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Future Care Capital responds to latest monthly delayed transfers of care data

11th August 2017 about a 1 minute read

A mixture of a rising demand, demographic pressures, and people living longer with ever more complex long-term conditions, has led to a record number of social care transfer delays between the NHS and local authority care providers.

According to the latest statistics on social care transfers for June 2017, published by NHS England, these new figures illustrate some of the key pressures on social care support across the country. The proportion of these delays that are attributable to social care, as of June 2017, now stands at 38%. This is compared to June 2016, when it stood at 32.4%.

The main reason for social care delays was “patients awaiting care package[s] in their own home”, disproportionately affecting disabled people and individuals in later life.

NHS England’s latest statistics for delayed transfers highlight the growing pressures faced by the social care system. It is telling that the number of delays due to social care are at a record high, which is in part down to patients having to wait for appropriate care packages to return home. Bed blocking is not a new problem. NHS staff and other care professionals work incredibly hard to manage demands upon the system, but it is increasingly clear that the provisions in place to manage transfers need reform Dean James, Chief Executive, Future Care Capital