Local hospitals lose 39 bed days in one month to social care backlogs

Torbay and South Devon hospitals lost 39 bed days in May due to delayed discharges.

New research published by the Liberal Democrats has revealed the impact of the social care crisis on the NHS in Torbay and South Devon, with medically fit patients left stuck in hospital beds waiting to be sent home.

Of these 39 lost bed days, the majority involved patients who had been stuck in hospital for three weeks or more.

Delayed discharges take place when medically fit patients are unable to leave hospital, often due to a lack of social care. Across the country, the NHS lost over 128,800 bed days to delayed discharges from hospital, up 32% on the same period last year.

The Liberal Democrats warned that the government’s failure to tackle the social care crisis was having a “disastrous” impact on local NHS services, piling pressure on hospitals while elderly and vulnerable patients are left waiting for the care they need. The party is calling for the introduction of a Carer’s Minimum Wage, set at £2 above the minimum wage, to help address the huge number of job vacancies in social care.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Totnes, Caroline Voaden said:

“These worrying figures show the disastrous impact the social care crisis is having on our health services. Far too many elderly and vulnerable people are stuck in hospital when they are ready to leave, because there simply isn’t the care available for them at home or in the community. 

This is a particular issue in our more rural communities, and places like Dartmouth that have lost their community hospital.

The challenges the NHS faces cannot be resolved without fixing the social care system and I wholeheartedly support the Liberal Democrat policy to show how much we value carers by bringing in a Carer’s Minimum Wage. This would be especially valuable in South Devon where those working in the social care sector have to contend with very high housing costs.”