Press release: Associations voice strong concerns over community care bill
14 Nov 2002
Responding to the publication of the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Bill, representatives of local government, social services and the NHS have voiced concerns about the practical implications of the proposals.
A joint statement issued by the Local Government Association (LGA), the Association of Directors of Social Services (ADSS), and the NHS Confederation, emphasises their shared commitment to end the misery caused by delayed discharge from hospital and recognises that more needs to be done to provide integrated health and social care services.
But the national associations highlight the need to ensure the proposals do not undermine existing relationships between local councils social services and the NHS and protect funding for older people's services.
"It would be a retrograde step if the current proposals undermined trust and led to the development of adversarial relationships rather than co-operation between health and local councils' social services" they argue.
The associations also stressed that "the government's plan to introduce these measures within six months could cause significant practical difficulties on the ground. In Sweden it took two years".
Sir Jeremy Beecham, Chair of the Local Government Association said: The Government should be in no doubt that its proposals to charge local councils for delayed discharges risk seriously undermining the level of care we can provide to older people. Age Concern, representing older people themselves, have said the proposals are 'shortsighted'. What the Government does not recognise is that there are many reasons for the delays and many solutions to this issue - but fining local councils is not one of them. "
David Behan, President of the ADSS said: "The strength of our concerns about the difficulties facing services for elderly people if these proposals are introduced as they stand, is reflected in this joint statement, and our common belief that there are much better ways for the government to achieve improvements".
Dr Gill Morgan, Chief Executive of The NHS Confederation, said: " We welcome the Government's commitment to ensuring people have fast, fair access to the NHS, with patients cared for in the most appropriate setting. We have a number of real concerns about how the scheme will operate in practice and so we are working actively with the Government, the LGA and the ADSS to ensure that any proposals enhance services for older people and the partnerships between local government and the NHS"
The ADSS, LGA and NHS Confederation believe that the key to tackling delayed discharge lies in an incentives regime which spans all local agencies, with joint targets and a shared performance management framework that ensure local co-operation and more integrated care - delivering the services that older people need.
The joint statement concludes: "We remain committed to a whole systems approach, which focuses on delivering the highest quality services for older people by preventing ill health, maintaining independence, avoiding unnecessary admissions as well as delivering the right care in the right setting when needed."
ENDS
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