Randerson Unsurprised at Auditor's Findings on Bed Blocking

12.03.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 1st Nov 2007

The Auditor General for Wales has today revealed the findings of his cross cutting report on delayed transfers of care. Often referred to as "bed-blocking", a delayed transfer of care is when a patient is ready for the next stage of care but is prevented from moving by one or more reasons.

One of the main findings is that the different systems used by social services and health services act as barriers to the whole system working.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson Jenny Randerson AM said "I am not really surprised at the findings. Bed blocking is one of the major obstacles to an effective NHS in Wales and has serious knock-on effects.

" Full beds mean there is no room for emergency admissions. When A & E wards are full ambulances must queue to discharge patients, affecting vital emergency services

"Despite a growing consensus that there needs to be greater collaboration between social services and NHS Trusts, the Government has failed to seriously consider shared budgets.

"Those who work in the NHS and Social Services repeatedly tell me of the need to take pooling of budgets more seriously. This would mean that NHS and Social Services would have to work together, sharing responsibility for patients, and tackling the problem together.

"I look forward to reading in detail about the strategies adopted where bed blocking has effectively been tackled"

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