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Treat patients at home to prevent hospital bed-blocking, NHS bosses ordered

Health and social care bosses will be told to focus spending £9bn of funding on keeping the elderly living independently at home

Health and social care bosses will be told to spend money on keeping the elderly living independently at home and prevent them from being unnecessarily admitted to hospital or care homes, The i Paper has learned.

NHS and council officials will be told to focus on three metrics for spending £9bn of Government funding: cutting emergency admissions to hospital for people aged 65 and over, reducing the average length of discharge delay for adult patients in acute hospitals, and cutting admissions to long term residential and nursing care homes for people aged 65 and over.

They will be encouraged to prioritise funds for things like Urgent Community Response teams of medics who provide treatment to people in their own homes so they don’t have to go into hospital.

The money could also be used for more home-based care from health and social care professionals so people can be discharged from hospital more quickly and recover where they live.

These sort of community-based schemes cost less than a hospital or care home bed, but also allow elderly people to live independently for longer.

Delayed discharge – sometimes known as “bed-blocking” – is one of the main causes of pressure on the NHS, including A&E departments, and this winter around one in five beds were taken up by patients who did not need to be there.

Research has shown that elderly people can lose as much as 5 per cent of their muscle capacity for every day they are in hospital.

Ministers say that focusing spending on helping patients stay out of hospital and the two other metrics will also cut back on paperwork because there will be less reporting of data.

Previous versions of the ‘Better Care Fund’ policy framework have included tackling admissions to residential and care homes but this is the first time NHS and social care leaders have been told to cut emergency admissions for over 65s and the average length of discharge delays.

The £9bn fund is an annual pot of money pooled between NHS and local authorities for improving social care.

The new framework is part of a shift from hospital to community-based care, one of Health Secretary Wes Streeting’s three strategic shifts intended to improve the NHS.

Minister of State for Care Stephen Kinnock said: “With these changes we are sending a clear message to health and care leaders that we expect them to use government funding to deliver on the Government’s Plan for Change and reduce pressure on hospitals.

“At the same time, by streamlining targets, we are cutting red tape so they can focus on changes that will have the most impact on patient care, rather than box ticking.”

The Department of Health said NHS and social care leaders would have more freedom in how they use the money to achieve these objectives.

The framework has been developed together with NHS England and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Minister of State for Local Government and English Devolution Jim McMahon said: “Publishing the new Better Care Fund Framework in tandem with our reforms to the outdated local government funding system is a signal of intent to local leaders, we are prioritising stability and efficiency to make sure every penny of taxpayer cash is put to good use to deliver meaningful outcomes.”

He added: “We will ensure councils across the country have the tools needed to support their community, giving people the care they need and ultimately saving our NHS.”

The reforms are one of five immediate actions the government is taking to improve adult social care and are intended to run alongside the independent commission chaired by Baroness Casey of Blackstock.

Ministers have faced criticism over the timeline of the Casey commission, which is not due to report initial findings until next year and will not produce full conclusions before 2028.

Other immediate measures already announced to tackle shortages in the care sector include making an extra £3.7 billion available to social care authorities in the 2025-26 Local Government Finance Settlement, increasing funding to allow disabled people to live more independently at home, boosting the carers allowance, professionalising the workforce and harnessing the potential of technology.



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