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divdiv class=story-body readability=37 span class=story-date#13; span class=date22 November 2013/span#13;span class=time-textLast updated at /spanspan class=time19:03 ET/span#13; #13;/span#13;#13; #13;#13;#13; #13; #13; span class=byline byline-photo img src=http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/71295000/jpg/_71295011_003180029-1.jpg alt=Adam Brimelow/span class=byline-nameBy Adam Brimelow/span span class=byline-titleHealth Correspondent, BBC News/span /span #13; #13; p class=introduction id=story_continues_1NHS figures have highlighted the growing impact of delays in discharging patients in England once they are fit to leave hospital./p#13; pLast month the number of days lost by patients who needed the beds was the highest for more than three years./p#13; pSenior doctors working in accident and emergency departments say it is a major cause for concern./p#13; pNHS England said it was aware of the problem, but care working groups across the country were tackling it./p#13; pThe problem facing the health service is about making sure patients who are fit to leave hospital can recover in the right place, and their beds are made available to others who need them. /p#13; pFigures from NHS England show the number of hospital bed days lost because of delayed discharges in October was 78,424./p#13; pThat is up nearly 8,000 on the same time last year, and the highest since monthly data was first published in August 2010./p#13; span class=cross-headGrowing problem/span#13; div class=story-feature narrow#13; a class=hidden href=#story_continues_2Continue reading the main story/a h2 class=quote“spanStart Quote/span/h2#13;blockquote readability=2p class=first-childThese figures are a cause for concern. The delays are a key cause of overcrowding in emergency departments, which is associated with higher mortality”/p/blockquote#13;span class=endquoteEnd Quote/span#13; span class=quote-creditDr Clifford Mann/span#13; span class=quote-credit-titleCollege of Emergency Medicine/span#13;#13; /div p id=story_continues_2The figures also indicate that getting appropriate social care in place - so patients can be discharged safely with the right support at home or in a care home - is a growing problem./p#13; pThe number of hospital bed days lost where the delay was caused by social care difficulties was 14,830 in October. This is the highest since April 2011./p#13; pThe President of the College of Emergency Medicine, Dr Clifford Mann, said the figures were not a surprise, but were a cause for concern. /p#13; pThe delays are a key cause of overcrowding in emergency departments, which is associated with higher mortality, he said./p#13; pHowever, he added that the announcement this week of extra funding to relieve pressure on A and E departments was very welcome/p#13; span class=cross-headIntense pressure/span#13; pFor Labour, shadow health secretary Andy Burnham said the figures exposed the intense pressure faced by hospitals in England./p#13; pDavid Cameron's severe cuts to older people's home care services have left people without adequate support and at risk of hospitalisation. Once admitted, a growing number are trapped on wards because they can't be discharged./p#13; pA spokesman for the Local Government Association said councils had worked hard to protect social care services from the full impact of cuts, but added: Unless local government finance is put on a sustainable footing, social care will remain substantially underfunded and services will suffer as a result./p#13; pIn a statement, NHS England said it was very aware of the pressures hospitals faced when they could not discharge patients./p#13; pAcross the country we have urgent care working groups set up so the whole health and social care system is pulling together to tackle these important issues. The extra £150 million that we have just released will help. We need to get every penny we can working hard for patients./p#13; pA spokesperson for the Department of Health in England said in an average week NHS hospitals in England admitted a quarter of a million patients, and in that context the number of delays was very low./p#13; pBut no patients should experience unnecessary delays. We know hospitals need to join up better with social care and community services and are investing £3.8 billion in making this happen./p#13; /div/divbrbrcentera href=http://www.wizardrss.comPowered By WizardRSS.com/a | a href=http://www.wizardrss.comFull Text RSS Feed/a | a href=http://www.amazon.com/RFID-Blocking-Cards-Identity-Protector/dp/B00CJHZLEWRFID/a | a href=http://www.wpzonbuilder.comAmazon Affiliate/a/center