Bed-blocking (officially termed “delayed transfers of care”) happens when a patient – usually someone elderly or disabled – is prevented from being discharged from hospital.
This usually happens because their home is no longer suitable (and needs to be adapted for them) or they don’t have a care package in place. As a result, “well” patients remain in hospital for longer than they need to be through no fault of their own and reduce the number of available beds.
The latest available statistics (from February 2020 and since suspended because of the pandemic) showed that Bridgend has the equivalent of 32 people waiting to be discharged from hospital per 10,000 people aged 75+ – which was above the all-Wales average at the time.
Earlier this week, Huw Irranca-Davies MS (Lab, Ogmore) asked the Welsh Government what they were doing to ensure that the organisations responsible for care packages and home adaptations were properly supported to speed up discharges from hospital.
In response, Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan (Lab, Cardiff North) said:
“In Cwm Taf Morgannwg….the ‘stay well at home’ project has continued to develop, which prevents unnecessary hospital admissions and ensures that there’s timely discharge for those people who require admission….In addition, the Member mentioned Care and Repair Cymru; we provided over £0.5 million in 2021-22 to Care and Repair Cymru to deliver the ‘hospital to a healthier home’ service, which facilitates safer and quicker discharges for vulnerable older patients.”
– Deputy Minister for Social Services, Julie Morgan
Retired orthopaedic surgeon, Altaf Hussain MS (Con, South Wales West) – who’s also a sitting Bridgend county councillor – said that if the Welsh Government had worked to properly integrate health and social care over the last 20 years then bed-blocking would be less of a problem.
He asked whether consideration has been given to making better use of occupational therapists and community-based physiotherapists as well as assessments of what changes a patient needs to their home to leave before they undergo an operation.
The Deputy Minister stressed that this was a UK-wide problem and the Welsh Government “were working flat out on finding a solution”.
