New measures are reducing hospital '˜bed blocking,' say Hartlepool health chiefs

Patient interest group HealthWatch Hartlepool highlighted a number of flaws in the system, resulting in people spending longer than necessary in hospital in a study in 2014.

An action plan was developed setting out how the various issues were to be addressed by stakeholders including the hospital trust, council social workers and clinical commissioning group.

Progress on the action plan will be considered at a meeting of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Adult Services Committee on Monday.

One recommendation was to make the process simpler for handling a patient’s care once they had been released from hospital.

The action plan says the hospital discharge liaison and patient flow team have been reorganised under one leadership to streamline the process.

Additional money from the Better Care Fund will help see quicker handovers between the hospital and council.

Social workers have been issued with mobile devices to work more flexibly as part of a recommendation for better communication between different people involved in the discharge process.

At the last board meeting of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, chief executive Alan Foster said he had been working with Hartlepool council chief executive Gill Alexander on the issue.

Despite the action plan delayed discharges are still putting intense pressure on the trust due to the busy time of the year for hospitals and nursing home closures.

Mr Foster said: “Slowly we are seeing some improvements in terms of responsiveness and social care input, particularly assessments over bank holidays, but it’s happening maybe not as quickly as we would like.”

He said the issue was linked to the pressure on nursing provision following several home closures in Hartlepool.

Mr Foster also said in some cases patients were spending longer than necessary in hospital as the family waited for a place in a home of their choice.

He added: “It is about working as corroboratively as we can to ensure that blocking is minimised.”

Paul Garvin, trust chairman said: “Being in hospital is not a good option for elderly people. They lose muscle tone and it makes it more difficult to go back home or be in a care home.”

Steve Hall, a non-executive director on the board, said it was important to highlight how bed blocking affects the trust’s ability to admit new patients to hospital.