Health and Social Care: Winter Update

Baroness Watkins of Tavistock Excerpts

Tuesday 21st January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Watkins of Tavistock (CB)]

My Lords, I declare my interests as an NHSE board member and a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. I absolutely acknowledge that the Health Secretary and the team, including the Minister, are trying to resolve many of these problems. However, I echo the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Laming, that we need something much more quickly than the long-term plan. Can serious consideration be given to funding four or six weeks of care as soon as people leave hospital, whether or not there is a legal entitlement to that cost, to get the one in seven people currently lingering in hospital beds out into better facilities so that they can be supported by their families and friends? Also, the criticism of the advertisements for corridor nurses is absolutely incorrect; we need a higher percentage of nurses in A&E and surrounding departments if they have a much higher number of patients than they were originally established for.

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

I thank the noble Baroness for bringing her comments before the House and for acknowledging our efforts, direction and commitment, because this is not easy and, as she knows, will not happen overnight. However, we need to tackle delayed discharge, following the point made by my noble friend Lady Winterton, through the development of local partnership working between the NHS and social care and making sure that the right support is there to return home—if that is the best place for people—or for an intermediate arrangement. This should not be just an issue of hospital or home; sometimes people need facilities along that trajectory, because they have different needs and their conditions do not stay still. That is why it has to be local partnerships.

Every acute hospital has access to a care transfer hub which brings together professionals from the NHS and social care to manage discharges of people with more complex needs who need extra support. We will shortly publish the better care fund policy framework, which will drive greater impact from over £9 billion of public spending on integrated care. Reducing delayed discharge will be a key part of that. I heard the request from the noble Baroness. She will understand that we have to take account of the financial situation we inherited, but we also need innovation, creativity and practicality to find answers to these very long-standing challenges.