Hospitals: Delayed Discharges

Baroness Manzoor Excerpts

Monday 9th February 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right. I emphasise her words that we must have an integrated, co-ordinated approach. She is quite right to highlight that some areas are doing this. It has not been straightforward, but dedication and bringing together all the elements that she raises, including health, social care, housing, voluntary and community partners and the families themselves, make the difference. We are focused on making sure that where good practice exists it can develop and that the statutory guidance around planning for discharge before admission is adhered to locally.

[Baroness Manzoor (Con)]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that there is limited capacity in social care in terms of beds and that there are real problems of staff shortages across the NHS and in social care. The noble Baroness, Lady Pitkeathley, mentioned functionality and co-ordination between different agencies, including the NHS, local authorities and social care. As she rightly mentioned, there are blockages—such as receiving medicines et cetera—to patients being discharged from hospital. What key performance indicators are the Government going to put in place to ensure that we remove these blockages rather than just pursuing a generalised way forward?

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

The noble Baroness raises how we assess performance. That is a valid question. This work has been tackled through all the plans for improvement. It is complicated, as she suggests, and covers a range of different areas. I do not think there is one prescriptive model that we need to adhere to. We need to make sure that it is very clear how benefits come to patients, in particular, when we get the systems right. I am happy to discuss this further with her.