Care and Support

Kevin Barron Excerpts

Wednesday 11th July 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Lansley]

My hon. Friend makes an important point. We want people who move from England to Wales or from Wales to England to have continuity of care, so I will make it clear to my counterpart in Wales that I am entirely open to discussions about that. Given that it is a devolved matter, it is better in a sense if the initiative for those discussions comes from Wales, because I do not want to be interpreted as trying to impose any solution on Wales, but if the Welsh Government look for such discussions I will be open to them.

[Mr Kevin Barron (Rother Valley) (Lab)]

In response to the White Paper, the NHS Confederation has said that people are

“staying in hospital longer…because the right services are not in place to allow them to go home when they are medically fit to do so.”

Given that it is estimated that delayed discharges from our hospitals cost some £18 million a month, what action are the Government taking to get rid of that waste of public money?

[Mr Lansley]

The total number of delayed discharges is broadly the same as it was last year and, I believe, from memory, the year before—I will correct the record if not. Some 29% of the delays in discharge from hospital are due to the inability to access social care. Most of them arise because people are awaiting further assessment or treatment in the NHS. We have all the details of delayed discharges and are working actively to reduce them.