County’s £500k Bid To Reduce Hospital Waiting Lists

Cornwall County Council is acting to reduce the number of people currently waiting to be transferred from acute hospitals by spending more than £500,000 on funding beds in care homes and community hospitals. The authority has agreed to spend £529,000 funding placements for 120 people currently blocking hospital beds in the county.

Council spokesman Nigel Walker said there was a serious issue with delayed hospital transfers in Cornwall, which was causing distress both to the patients and their families, and creating problems for the health community.

“The simple truth is that the Government is not giving Cornwall enough money to provide the services local people need,” he said. “The Department for Adult Social Care is trying to meet the needs of increasing numbers of elderly and vulnerable people and is currently facing an overspend of £1.5 million.

“This means we have not had the funding we need to make placements in care homes or community hospitals, resulting in people blocking beds in our acute hospitals.”