NHS Wales: BMA burnout worry over 50-day challenge to free beds

At any one time, there are about 1,600 patients, mostly elderly, in hospital beds in Waales who are otherwise fit to be discharged.

In some hospitals, this is 20% of all beds.

But delays around assessment and getting the right care support in place means patients can spend an average of five weeks in hospital unneccessarily.

The Welsh NHS Confederation says the fragility of social services presents a “huge challenge”.

Mr Miles said many of the recommendations were already being achieved at health boards.

“The 50-day challenge is about every party of Wales adopting the 10 things that we know make the biggest difference in discharging patients safely,” he said.

“This is about making the whole system more resilient and able to work more smoothly.”

Conservative health spokesman Sam Rowlands said he was concerned about the plan’s ability to help the service increase its capacity.

“The Welsh Conservatives would pass on every penny received for health on the Welsh NHS to integrate it more appropriately with social care, properly financing councils with a new funding formula to deliver the service and to enact a substantial workforce plan to hire more doctors and nurses as opposed to Labour’s plan to create more jobs for politicians.”

Plaid Cymru spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor said:

“After 25 years in power, this latest scheme is another admission of failure on Labour’s part to get to grips with the fundamental issues. They don’t have a care workforce plan in place, they aren’t paying carers enough, and they are failing to provide enough funding to our local authorities in charge of social care.”

“While we welcome initiatives to speed up hospital discharge times and improve community care, until they get the fundamentals right we’ll only see more of the same.”