GMB Magazine GMB25 Fusion Summer 2016 | Page 4

GMB IHNS N E H T ing crisis k c lo Bed-b n i e Ris l a t i p s o h K C O L BED-B B ed-blocking – the practice of keeping a patient in hospital when they should be discharged, thus preventing another patient from taking the bed – increased by 65.9 per cent in North West hospitals between 2011/12 and 2015/16, according to a new report from GMB. In 2015 in the North West, NHS patients who were ready to be discharged but were kept in hospital due to delays in providing alternative care were delayed by 229,757 days. This was an increase of 91,234 days compared with 138,523 days in 2011/12. Across England there was a 32 per cent increase in bed-blocking in 2015/16. Patients kept in hospital due to delays in providing alternative care were delayed by 1,809,883 days. This was an increase of 436,491 days compared with 1,373,392 days in 2011/12. There are a variety of reasons why patients experience delays in being discharged. These include sorting out a place in a care home (27.8 per cent), delays in arranging further NHS care (18.3 per cent), sorting out care at a patient’s home (19.9 per cent), interagency delays (17.1 per cent), delays due to patient or family choice about future care (12.8 per cent) and others (4.1 per cent). These figures are for England for the year 2015/16. For Lancashire there was an increase of 17,317 days, from 26,756 in 2011/12 to 44,073 in 2015/16. For Cumbria, the increase was 14,617 days, from 16,962 to 31,579. Tameside had 9,636 more days, up from 512 to 13,097. Trafford rose 9,636 days, from 6,002 to 15,638, while for Manchester it rose 7,971 days, from 10,065 to 18,036. See the table, right, for full details for the 23 areas in the Region. DELAYS IN CARE There are no figures available for the total number of patients delayed. On one day at the end of each month the NHS counts the number of patients in hospital whose discharge is delayed. For the year 2015/16 for those 12 days, the total was 63,167 patients. The data, published by NHS England, was analysed by GMB. For more information go to: www.gmb.org.uk/newsroom. GMB contacted NHS England for an explanation of possible anomalies in the data regarding changes between 2011 and 2015. We were told that detailed analysis has not been carried out and that there were no resources available to investigate further. Source: NHS Eng land, Delayed Transfer of Care 04 FUSION – GMB North West and Irish GMB25.Fusion_04_05.indd 4 29/06/2016 09:33 ©iStock.com x 2 ne o g s a h e c i t c a r he p t t a h t s w o h s y GMB stud s a e r a t s e W th r o N e v up since 2011 in fi