£2.5m to tackle delayed transfers from Welsh hospitals

New measures to tackle delayed transfers of care in the Welsh NHS have been unveiled by Health and Social Services Minister Mark Drakeford.

£2.5m will support a series of measures to reduce the number of people – the majority are older people – who are unable to leave hospital for social care reasons, freeing up hospital beds for patients who need them.

The most recent statistics show 435 people experienced a delayed transfer of care in December 2015 – the third consecutive month there has been a reduction in the number of delays.

However, more than half (53%) of those people were delayed because of community care assessments not taking place quickly enough, delays in older people selecting a care home or when a person was waiting for a care home place to become available.

The £2.5m of Welsh Government funding will allow health boards, local authorities, housing and the third and independent sector to work together to ensure people delayed in hospital receive an appropriate package of care and support, allowing them to leave hospital – either to return home with the right package of support or to a care home of their choice. It will offer regions greater flexibility to support other people and groups to maintain their independence at home and in the community.

Health boards, as part of regional collaboratives, will receive a share of the £2.5m to work with their partners:

• North Wales – £598,000
• Mid and West Wales – £470,000
• Western Bay – £433,000
• Cwm Taf – £243,000
• Cardiff and Vale – £308,000
• Gwent – £450,000

Details of the successful projects will be announced in due course.

The investment is part of the £20m Intermediate Care Fund. The majority of the fund – £17.5m –  is supporting a range of successful projects across Wales which have integrated health and social care;  helped to maintain people’s independence in their own home and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and strengthen the resilience of the unscheduled care system.

Professor Drakeford said:

“In Wales, we have invested in both our health and social care services, because people, especially the frail and the elderly, rely on both to meet their care and support needs. This investment has led to a steady decline in the number of delayed transfers of care over the last 10 years – bucking the trend seen elsewhere in the UK.

“The most recent statistics show more than half the delays in leaving hospital, despite people being well enough to be discharged, are the result of delays in choosing a care home; people waiting for a placement to become available or a community assessment.

“The priority for the £2.5m funding I’m announcing today will be to reduce and eradicate these delays, freeing up hospital beds for people who need them. I expect to see action taken immediately to ensure people, especially the frail and the elderly who do not need to be in our acute hospitals are supported to move into more suitable settings, whether that be their own home, in supported or residential accommodation.”