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Views And Reviews

More older patients are stuck in hospitals

BMJ 2016; 353 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.i2948 (Published 26 May 2016) Cite this as: BMJ 2016;353:i2948
  1. David Oliver,
  2. consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine
  1. Berkshire
  1. davidoliver372{at}googlemail.com

The UK National Audit Office (NAO) has just published the report Discharging Older Patients from Hospital.1

It focuses on the growing number of older people who are technically fit enough to leave acute hospitals in England but remain stranded. Why? Because the community services they need to support them out of hospital lack the funding, capacity, or quick response times to match their need. Such cases are officially reported as “delayed transfers of care” (DTOC).

These delays are rapidly worsening and have reached record levels.2 The NAO found that bed days due to DTOC rose by 31% from …

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