Poor health and social care integration impacting on older people

By The Press Association23rd February 2015News EnglandCare Standards, News England, Older People, Social Care

Pensioners are receiving unacceptable levels of care from the NHS with hospitals being given financial incentives for “bed blocking”, according to an independent report.

The investigation, by think-tank Localis and old people’s charity Anchor, concluded the elderly are not getting adequate care in hospital and A&E wards.

It found failures in the health and social care system is resulting in “sub-standard care for the older population”.

The average cost of keeping a patient in a hospital bed is around £1,600 a week but the NHS is footing the bill caring for people who do not need medical care, the report stated.

This is also stopping patients who genuinely need the beds from getting treatment, it is claimed.

Jane Ashcroft, chief executive of Anchor, said: “It is older people who are suffering the most from a lack of health and social care integration – facing unnecessary admissions to hospital, experiencing lengthy discharge delays and poor standards of care.

“No matter how dedicated NHS staff are, they are constantly battling a system that is working against them.

“Now is the time to take action to protect the safety of our older generations now and in the future.”

The study involved more than 100 health leaders and senior local government figures, and it found perverse financial incentives are a major barrier to integration of health and social care.

“Bed blocking” was identified as the number one issue and lack of financial incentives to clear blocked beds was cited as one of its main causes.

The report also said not enough is being done by the service to prevent avoidable injuries for old people, one in 10 of those aged 75 or over admitted to hospital had potentially avoidable conditions but only 4% of the NHS budget is spent on prevention.

Alex Thomson, Localis chief executive, said: “Our research highlights how entrenched the problems caused by lack of integration in our health and social care system are, and the knock-on effects on older people especially.”

With the number of people aged 65 and over set to increase by 50% in the next 15 years, Anchor is calling for urgent reform to “prevent a collapse in front-line services”.