Elderly patient could be put at risk by pressure to empty NHS beds, warns social care chief inspector

Elderly patient could be put at risk by pressure to empty NHS beds, warns social care chief inspector Pressures on hospitals to empty thousands of beds ahead of winter could risk the safety of frail elderly patients, the chief inspector of social care has warned.

Andrea Sutcliffe said she was concerned that vulnerable patients would be moved into inadequate facilities, after councils were told funding could be cut if they do not reduce bedblocking rates in their local hospitals.

She told a conference: “I worry that if people focus just on moving people through the system quickly then does that mean that they will force the discharge of somebody that is old and frail into a service which we have rated ‘inadequate’, which would put them at risk potentially.” The Daily Telegraph