Lack of social care has cost the NHS 2.5 million bed days since last election, charity says

A lack of social care provision will have led to 2.5 million lost bed days in the NHS between the last UK general election and this one, an analysis by the charity Age UK has found.

Over the course of 917 days from 8 June 2017 (the date of the last general election) and 12 December 2019, delayed discharges from hospital to social care in the community will have cost the NHS £587m (€695m; $770m), the charity estimates.

Delayed or lost bed days are defined as each day a person spends unnecessarily in hospital when they are medically fit to be discharged.

The charity said …