NHS Trust Loses £21.5m Annually To Patients Waiting For Care Placement

Tees, Esk and Valleys NHS Foundation Trust reported a direct financial loss of £21.5 million per year due to patients remaining in hospital beds after reaching medical discharge criteria. The trust serves mental health and learning disability patients in County Durham and Teesside. In a recent report, the organization stated that 68 adult patients occupied acute beds at the end of August despite not requiring clinical care.

These individuals accounted for approximately 18% of the trust's total acute bed inventory. The primary cause of the delays was the inability to move patients into external care placements. NHS England data indicates that a single hospital bed costs £562 per day to staff and maintain. This national shortage of care home space results in the health service spending over £225 million each month on patients who could be located in other facilities.

The trust identified the bed occupancy issue as its most significant risk regarding performance, quality, and finances. In response, officials are working to improve community services to reduce reliance on acute wards. The trust developed an outline business case for a new crisis assessment center in Durham. This facility aims to divert demand away from existing hospital wards and address the bottleneck at discharge.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously promoted a free social care system modeled on the NHS as a solution to the crisis. The new Durham center is part of the local strategy to mitigate these costs and improve patient flow.

The trust will continue to monitor bed occupancy rates and the progress of the new assessment center plan in the coming months.