In response to the NHS Digital Monthly Delayed Transfers of Care data for October, Janet Morrison, Chief Executive of Independent Age, the older people’s charity, said:
“2016 is on course to be the worst year in history for people who are fit to leave being stuck in hospital because of delays in discharge. More than 6,800 people were delayed in being discharged from hospital on the day of reporting in October, with a total of 200,008 bed days being lost in October. Month after month we are seeing record numbers of people unable to leave hospital because of a failure to put an appropriate care package in place, with seemingly no plan in place to reverse this failure. Older people are suffering because of these delays, and will continue to suffer until the decline in performance is reversed.”