Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what plans he has to support local authorities in providing a full and comprehensive seven day social care service to support patients discharged from hospitals at weekends.

Local authorities currently operate adult social care services during normal working hours Monday to Friday, and cover the out of hours period with emergency duty teams. Duty Teams ensure that the local authority is able to fulfil its statutory duty to provide assessments including protection of vulnerable persons and urgent assistance and advice required by families and carers. However, the level of this provision is for each individual local authority to decide.

The NHS Services, Seven Days a Week Forum recognised the importance of timely and effective transfers of patients from hospital to community, primary and social care. Hospitals acknowledge this as best practice, and are keen to work with other health and social care partners to ensure that the next steps in the patient’s care pathway can be taken safely on every day of the week.