The word crisis is often over-used, but the NHS is facing a genuine crisis in which its component parts are struggling with the amount of work they face and the financial and human resources which they have at their disposal. A House of Commons Briefing Paper, NHS Indicators: England January 2017, shows the scale of the crisis engulfing the NHS.
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Amalgamating health and social care services has long been spoken of as an objective, in the light of the so-called ‘bed-blocking’ phenomenon; largely elderly people deemed fit enough to leave hospital but who cannot be accommodated with support in their home or a care-home. Yet this objective is impossible in a situation where both the NHS and care services are under-funded. The connection and feedback with the social care crisis is reflected in the 26% increase in delayed transfers of patients from hospitals from November 2015 to November 2016. Delay because of the inability to provide care at home or in a nursing home increased by 47%. In the twelve months to November 2016 there were 2.12 million ‘delayed days’ when patients who should have been released were still in a hospital bed. This was 22% higher than in the 12 months to November 2015. Over this period, delays where the NHS was at least partially responsible rose by 15%, and those where social care organisations were at least partially responsible rose by 35%. In October 2016 there was a daily average of 3,692 delays attributable to the NHS, 2,249 to social care, and 515 to both.
(To read on download a PDF here nhsindicatorsarticle )
Martin Wicks 