"Elderly patients can't afford to leave hospital"

[dutchman]

Elderly patients are refusing to leave hospital because of the potential cost of paying for care homes, NHS bosses fear.



Figures published yesterday showed the number of pensioners taking up hospital beds when they should be at home or in a care home has increased by over 15 per cent in the last year.

Senior health service figures have told The Daily Telegraph that they believe some are resisting leaving free hospital care because they do not wish to pay for care homes.

The new statistics, published by the NHS, disclose that pensioners now account for one in three of all bed blocking cases, and have contributed to bed-blocking now being at an all-time high.

In November last year, there were 153,000 days of delays in NHS hospitals lost to "bed blockers" who were medically fit to leave, the second highest figure on record.

From January to November, 1.59 million days were lost in total to bed blocking - a figure that is already bigger than for any previous year.

Experts have warned that pensioners are left “imprisoned” in hospitals because the Government is failing to adequately fund social care for the elderly.

However, it has now emerged that senior figures in the NHS are also concerned that pensioners are not leaving hospitals due to a reluctance to spend their savings on care.

Ministers have delayed plans to introduce a cap on care costs, a key manifesto pledge. The cap was due to come into force this April but will now be introduced in 2020 amid concerns over funding.

The change will increase the level of personal assets people are allowed to hold before they start paying for care from the current £23,000 to £118,000 and set a lifetime cap on the amount people must pay into social care costs at £72,000 for those above pension age.

Last night Saga, the older people’s pressure group, said that many pensioners are left “imprisoned” in hospital because the government has failed to adequately fund social care.

Paul Green called the numbers “a modern day scandal”, adding: “It is also a financial scandal because it costs so much more to have people in hospital beds than it does to have people at home with the right sort of visits and care from professional carers.”

Sarah Wollaston, a Conservative MP and chair of the health select committee called for a review of how social care is funded and how it affects the NHS.

She said: "We can't see social care and NHS funding in isolation, we need to have a review of how we fund the whole system so that we can deal this problem.

"The increasing problem is that because the rate of remuneration to social care providers doesn't sufficiently meet the costs.

"There isn't anyone available to provide the care so even if you want to pay for it you find its difficult to find someone who is providing social care in your area. This is a worsening problem and a problem both for social care but also the NHS."