Number of people spending Christmas period stuck in hospital doubled

Research
by Labour has revealed that the number of people spending the Christmas
period stuck in hospital due to Delayed Transfer of Care almost doubled between
2010 and 2016.

The
Patient Snapshot, which is the number of people who are stuck in hospital at
midnight on the last Thursday of the month, showed that this had increased from
1,995 people on December 30^th 2010 to 3,929 on 29^th
December 2016.

The
last time the snapshot fell directly on Christmas was 2015 when 3,155 spent
Christmas Eve stuck in hospital.

Barbara
Keeley MP, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet Minister for Social Care, said:

“The
shocking rise in delayed transfers of care is directly attributable to the cuts
imposed by the Tory Government and will mean those needing care will have to
spend their Christmas stuck in hospital.

“Tory
cuts to local authorities since 2010 will have seen reductions in social care
budgets of £6.3 billion by March 2018 and a 26% drop in the numbers of older
people receiving publicly funded care – some 400,000 people.

“Families
of people with care needs will be concerned by the possibility of their
vulnerable relatives being stuck in hospital unnecessarily over Christmas
because of the lack of available care in their community.

“The
Tory Government offered no additional funding for social care in either the
Budget or the Local Government Finance Settlement. It is clear that only Labour
can ease this Tory social care crisis: Labour would invest £8 billion across
the Parliament with £1 billion pledged this year to offer more publicly-funded
care services.”