Thérèse Coffey's plan to pay care homes to free up hospital beds 'smacks of short-term panic'

With reports the new health and social care secretary is looking to pay care homes to take in discharged patients from hospital, a social care policy expert says most people "stuck" in hospital “don’t need residential care”.

Officials at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) believe the scheme could tackle two major NHS problems at once, by freeing up some of the 13,000 hospital beds currently occupied by discharge patients and improving handovers by ambulance crews to A&E staff.

It is believed Ms Coffey and NHS leaders are keen to do everything they can to reduce the pressure on hospitals before the winter months exacerbate the crisis.

However, Richard Humphries, who works for the Health Foundation tweeted that Ms Coffey's idea: ‘Smacks of short-term panic. Most people stuck in hospital don’t need residential care. Home care & community support should be the priority for new investment.’

Phil McCarvill deputy chief officer at ADASS replied to Mr Humphries' tweet by saying: ‘And most people who do not need residential care become less likely to ever return home. Potentially disastrous for them and the most expensive possible option. Agree - the solutions lie in more home and community based care & support - that's where to put the £.’

This is not a new idea. In December 2021, NHS data recorded that on average 10,500 patients per day who were medically fit for discharge were still using a hospital bed.

To counter this problem, Abicare, a home care provider was contracted by the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to set up hotel facilities in the south of England to support people waiting for care packages to help keep the number of hospital beds free in the south and south west.

Speak to the care providers 'before shooting from the hip'

In December 2021, there were three hotels in the south of England being used, including one in Plymouth caring for 30 hospital patients.

Director for Abicare, Anne Marie Perry said: "Thérèse Coffey does not comprehend the problem.

"The issue is staffing, blockages in hospitals are mostly due to a lack of capacity in the community - this includes care homes.

"I suggest Thérèse speaks to the providers to understand the issues before shooting from the hip."

But if the government idea goes ahead, it would cost several hundred million pounds of which neither the DHSC nor NHS England have enough money in reserve to do so.

Care England has been calling on the NHS for “many years” to have a national approach to funding discharge from hospital.

'This funding needs to be set at a minimum level of £1500 per week'

Professor Martin Green, chief executive of Care England said: “I welcome the Secretary of State's desire to have a proper funded tariff for discharge, and this should not be based on the inadequate funding that local authorities pay for care.

“This funding needs to be set at a minimum level of £1500 per week, which will be a significant saving for the NHS and will deliver a better outcome for the citizens who have been discharged from hospital.”

Ms Coffey is England’s third health and social care secretary in the space of two months and has promised to bring an ‘ABCD’ focus to her new job by solving the problems of ambulances, backlogs, social care and patient appointments for doctors and dentists.