Ignore the political source of this story. We all know that the challenges set out here are a concern to all political parties. These challenges are more acute for rural settings where the challenges of both distance and a small workforce make managing these issues more exacting, more costly and ultimately more organisationally debilitating. The article tells us:
Thousands of hospital beds could be filled with patients who don’t need to be there over the Christmas period, according to projections by the Labour Party.
Labour has analysed NHS data on so-called delayed transfers of care, where healthy patients are unable to leave hospital because of delays in organising social care and other community services.
Based on past average performance Labour says the data suggests as many as 4,400 beds could be out of action during December. In December last year, 4,155 beds per day were occupied by patients delayed in hospital every day.
Labour says since April 2017, more than 9,200 people have been forced to turn to their local council for help with care costs after running out of money.
Labour’s plans will more than double the number of people receiving state-funded care.