Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes in social care budgets on the length of time that older people spend in hospital.

Elderly patients should never be stuck in hospital unnecessarily, and the majority of patients are discharged quickly, with average lengths of stay falling from 6.6 days in 2005-06 to 4.9 days in 2015-16, a 26% decrease.

There is disparity in performance on discharging patients from hospital in different parts of the country which does not reflect variation between local authorities’ social care budgets. In October 2016 50% of all delayed transfers occurred in 16% of local authorities. The Department continues to work with health and care sector partners to better understand and support the complex relationships between health and care services.

The Department also continues to provide a wide-ranging package of support to help local areas improve their transfers out of hospital and reduce delays. The Local Government Association and Association of Directors of Adult Social Services have produced a range of tools to help local systems, including Eight High Impact Changes for Reducing Delayed Transfers of Care. NHS England and partners have published guidance to improve discharge practices at local level. We are investing in social care – giving local authorities £3.5 billion extra by 2020.