People forced to stay in London’s hospitals because of lack of care facilities when they leave are costing the NHS nearly £4million each month.
Data from Care Sourcer revealed patients waiting to be discharged from hospital into care facilities cost the NHS £3.94m in September 2018 because local authorities were unable to find suitable care providers.
Onkar Sahota, chairman of the London Assembly health committee, said: “With another winter NHS crisis looming, we need committed action on prevention, and a pan-London approach to ensuring we have enough home care teams, nursing home places and social care support to meet the needs of our ageing population.
“An unnecessarily prolonged stay in hospital can have serious consequences for patients, especially the elderly, who are left at heightened risk of infection and muscle loss.
“This also delays vital access to hospital beds for those on already excessively lengthy operation waiting lists.”
Kensington saw patients waiting the longest out of any London boroughs to be transferred to care facilities – 28 days.
Haringey saw the lowest waiting times for people to be transferred from hospital into care – but even then patients were waiting on average just over a week.
Andrew McGinley, CEO of Care Sourcer, said: “This data shows that health and social care systems are already under extreme pressure, and winter could bring a crisis for the Capital.”
