Discharging older patients from hospital The health and social care system’s management of discharging older patients from hospital does not represent value for money, according to the National Audit Office. The spending watchdog estimates that the gross annual cost to the NHS of treating older patients in hospital who no longer need to receive acute clinical care is in the region of £820 million.
Longer stays in hospital can have a negative impact on older patients’ health as they quickly lose mobility and the ability to do everyday tasks. Keeping older people in hospital longer than necessary is also an additional and avoidable pressure on the financial sustainability of the NHS and local government. NHS guidance is that patients are moved out of acute hospital as soon as it is clinically safe to do so; it is important to achieve the correct balance between minimising delays and not discharging a patient from hospital before they are clinically ready. Caring for older people who no longer need to be in hospital in more appropriate settings at home or in their community instead could result in additional annual costs of around £180 million for other parts of the health and social care system. This would reduce the potential savings of £820 million arising from discharging patients earlier from hospitals.
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Longer stays in hospital can have a negative impact on older patients’ health as they quickly lose mobility and the ability to do everyday tasks. Keeping older people in hospital longer than necessary is also an additional and avoidable pressure on the financial sustainability of the NHS and local government. NHS guidance is that patients are moved out of acute hospital as soon as it is clinically safe to do so; it is important to achieve the correct balance between minimising delays and not discharging a patient from hospital before they are clinically ready. Caring for older people who no longer need to be in hospital in more appropriate settings at home or in their community instead could result in additional annual costs of around £180 million for other parts of the health and social care system. This would reduce the potential savings of £820 million arising from discharging patients earlier from hospitals.
See also:
- Why is it more difficult than ever for older people to leave hospital? The King's Fund
- NHS urged to control discharge delays BBC News
- 10 days in an NHS hospital can make a patient 10 years older The Daily Mail
- Delays in discharging older patients from hospital 'cost NHS £820m a year' The Guardian
- Older patients who don't need to be in hospital 'cost NHS £1bn a year' The Independent
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