This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Action plan to avoid bed blocking
09/01/2002
The Executive has allocated £20 million to tackle
the "bed-blocking" problem in a major new drive to reduce
the number of people delayed in being discharged from
hospital.
The money, the first additional resources coming to the
Executive from the Chancellor's pre-Budget report for
2002-03, will be used to fund up to 1,000 extra places for
patients in "more appropriate" settings than busy hospital
wards.
First Minister Jack McConnell signalled the
new initiative today in a speech to Parliament during a
debate on the Executive's priorities.
The calculation is made that every £1 million of
additional investment can purchase up to 50 places for
usually elderly patients who do not need to be in hospital
but have no immediate alternative.
An expert group which has been looking at ways of
stemming and reducing the rising tide of people delayed in
being discharged from acute hospital beds is due to report
next month. The extra £20 million will support the Action
Plan that will flow from that group.
The First Minister said:
"I have spent the weeks since then talking to doctors,
nurses, patients and professional staff at all levels of
government and it is clear that delayed discharge - or bed
blocking as we all know it - leaves elderly people in
hospital when they should be back in the community. And it
increases waiting times for everybody else.
"This is an issue which has been raised in this
Parliament. It is a concern the Health Minister has paid
attention to. We have talked to those affected. We have
listened and now we will act.
"Malcolm Chisholm will announce an action plan to tackle
this serious problem early next month. I can announce that
the Cabinet has agreed to back that action plan with £20
million of new money to ensure our hospital beds are used
for patients and our older people get the care they
deserve."
Further announcements on the allocation of the remaining
resources coming to the Executive in 2002-3 from the
Chancellor's Pre-Budget report will be announced in due
course.
Full text of Executive Priorities speech