Jim Shannon – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Shannon on 2016-06-06.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent steps he has taken to reduce bed-blocking in hospitals.

Alistair Burt

To reduce bed-blocking we are working closely with NHS England, NHS Improvement, Local Government Association, Association of Directors of Adult Social Services and the Department for Communities and Local Government, to provide a wide ranging package of support to help local areas improve transfers out of hospital and reduce delays.

The Government is giving local authorities access to up to £3.5 billion of new support for social care by 2019/20. In 2016-17, there is also a new Better Care Fund requirement on local areas to develop a clear, focused action plan for managing delays, including locally agreed targets. The requirement is designed to reduce delays across the health and care system.