Patients across Bradford district spent total of 355 days 'bed blocking' in just one month, new figures reveal

The latest statistics from May this year, released by NHS England, show the majority of delays across the three trusts in the Bradford district were caused by problems with the NHS.

Nationally, the main reason for NHS delays was down to ‘patients awaiting further non acute NHS care’, which accounted for 28 per cent of all NHS delays.

On an average day at the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs St Luke’s Hospital and Bradford Royal Infirmary, six beds are occupied by patients who no longer need to stay in hospital, according to the figures.

In May, the latest month for which figures are available, patients at the trust spent a total of 185 days waiting to be discharged or transferred to a different care facility - equivalent to more than six months of waiting time.

The figures show that 85 per cent of these delays were caused by problems with the NHS and 15 per cent by problems with social care.

Meanwhile, on an average day at the Bradford District Care NHS Trust, two beds are occupied by patients who could leave hospital. For the same month, patients at the trust spent more than 50 days waiting to leave, with all delays caused by problems with the NHS rather than the social care system.

And on an average day at the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, four beds are blocked by patients. They spent a total of more than 120 days waiting to be discharged or transferred to a different care facility and the figures show that 66 per cent of these delays were down to the NHS and 34 per cent were as a result of social care problems.

A ‘delayed transfer of care’ occurs when a patient remains in a bed after being officially declared ready for transfer.Patients must be safe to transfer and signed off by both a doctor and a multidisciplinary team, which could include social or mental heath care workers, before they are classified in this way.

Independent healthcare charity the King’s Fund said this sign off process was sometimes lengthy and there could be many more people who were able to leave hospital but had not been officially declared as ready for transfer.

The figures do not include delays in transferring a patient between wards, or from one acute hospital to another.

Delayed transfers of care can occur for a variety of reasons, including bed shortages at residential or nursing homes and delays in setting up home care packages.

Labour MP John Grogan, whose Keighley constituency includes Airedale General Hospital, said the health service needed to work more closely with local councils and the providers of social care. He said he was “optimistic” this was beginning to happen.

He pointed to the new West Yorkshire and Harrogate Strategic Health and Care Partnership, a new body which brings together health trusts and councils from across the area, adding: “I think could make a big difference.”

Mr Grogan added that more money needed to be put into social care.

Philip Davies, Conservative MP for Shipley, echoed Mr Grogan’s call for better funding for social care, describing it as being as “breaking point”.

He said that money should come from the overseas aid budget and would help to make a difference to people’s care and would also free up beds for those who need them in the NHS.

Stacey Hunter, chief operating officer at the Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, said discharging patients safely and promptly is a “priority”.

“We work closely with our community services and partners in social care, and together have made good progress on reducing delayed transfers of care,” she added.

She said a recent Care Quality Commission system report for Bradford - looking at a typical pathway of care for people over 65 - highlighted “huge strides in reducing delayed transfers.”

She also pointed to the new acute admissions unit at the hospital, which helps to reduce the average length of stay for patients, as well as a frail elderly team which works to make sure patients have a comprehensive discharge plan.

A spokesperson for the Bradford District Care NHS Foundation Trust said the trust is performing “significantly better” than other mental health organisations and that this is down to partnership work with the local authority and other care partners.

The spokesperson said: “Unlike national figures which show that 85 per cent of delayed transfers are due to issues within the NHS; where there has been a delay of transfer for mental health patients under our care, this has been a result of either awaiting nursing home placement, or availability or funding for onward care.”

A spokesperson for the Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust added that it has established a “multi-agency” discharge team. The spokesman said: “We continue to make progress in enabling older people to get the support they need after a hospital stay, back at home, so we can free up beds, improve patient flow in our hospitals and quickly admit emergency A&E patients. There are many and varied reasons for delayed discharges. However, our delayed discharges reflect less than 1.5 per cent of bed days, this is significantly better than the national three per cent standard.”