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Number of 'fit' patients stuck in hospital hits all-time high Number of 'fit' patients stuck in hospital hits all-time high
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The number of patients who are trapped in hospital despite being fit to leave has reached an all-time high, putting extra pressure on the NHS as it enters its critical winter period.The number of patients who are trapped in hospital despite being fit to leave has reached an all-time high, putting extra pressure on the NHS as it enters its critical winter period.
Such patients, who cannot be safely discharged usually because local social care is inadequate, accounted for 160,094 bed days in October - the highest number since records began more than five years ago. That is the total number of bed days in effect lost to the NHS because hospital staff could not use them for another patient, which leads to hospitals getting overcrowded. Such patients, who cannot be safely discharged usually because local social care is inadequate, accounted for 160,094 bed days in October – the highest number since records began more than five years ago. That is the total number of bed days in effect lost to the NHS because hospital staff could not use them for another patient, which leads to hospitals getting overcrowded.
In all 5,328 patients who were fit to go but could not leave – mainly frail, elderly people were still in hospital at the end of October. That is almost 50% more than the previous month, suggesting a sudden worsening of the problem in the late autumn, and about double the 2,647 such patients who were in the same position in September 2010.In all 5,328 patients who were fit to go but could not leave – mainly frail, elderly people were still in hospital at the end of October. That is almost 50% more than the previous month, suggesting a sudden worsening of the problem in the late autumn, and about double the 2,647 such patients who were in the same position in September 2010.
In addition, hospitals are already struggling to treat and either admit or discharge A&E patients within the required four hours and to give patients key diagnostic tests quickly enough, ambulance services are missing key targets to respond to 999 calls, and growing numbers of cancer patients are not being treated within 62 days.
Related: Prepare for a catastrophic NHS winter meltdownRelated: Prepare for a catastrophic NHS winter meltdown
In addition, hospitals are already struggling to treat and either admit or discharge A&E patients within the required four hours and to give patients key diagnostic tests quickly enough, ambulance services are missing key targets to respond to 999 calls, and growing numbers of cancer patients are not being treated within 62 days.
The worrying signs of faltering NHS performance in key areas, contained in the latest statistics for how the service in England did in October, have renewed concerns it is facing a potentially very difficult “winter crisis” worse than the one that last year forced many hospitals to declare major incidents because they could not cope.The worrying signs of faltering NHS performance in key areas, contained in the latest statistics for how the service in England did in October, have renewed concerns it is facing a potentially very difficult “winter crisis” worse than the one that last year forced many hospitals to declare major incidents because they could not cope.
The figures, released on Thursday morning, reveal an NHS already struggling to meet key targets in the face of rising demand. They show that:The figures, released on Thursday morning, reveal an NHS already struggling to meet key targets in the face of rising demand. They show that:
The figures come hours after the Nuffield Trust, a leading health thinktank, and the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, warned that the NHS will struggle to cope this winter, particularly due to a small number of patients classed as “delayed transfers of care” taking up a small but disproportionate number of hospital beds.The figures come hours after the Nuffield Trust, a leading health thinktank, and the NHS Confederation, which represents hospitals, warned that the NHS will struggle to cope this winter, particularly due to a small number of patients classed as “delayed transfers of care” taking up a small but disproportionate number of hospital beds.