Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, if he will commission research into the costs to the NHS of delayed discharges.

The Department and NHS Improvement are working together to implement Lord Carter’s recommendations on hospital productivity. As part of this the two organisations are working with providers to develop a richer dataset around all aspects of the patient pathway, including discharge.

At the same time, the Department continues to work closely with the National Health Service and local government to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital, share best practice, and reduce unnecessary delays.