Work to tackle bed blocking and free up hospital space honoured
A council team is in line for a national award for its work in driving down bed blocking in hospitals to record low levels.
Dudley Council has been shortlisted in the Public Sector Transformation IESE awards.
Latest figures show the authority is one of the top performing in the country for helping people out of hospital and back into the community.
The council was once rated as one of the worst for 'bed blocking'. Now it is ranked in the top 25 per cent of councils nationally – representing an 86 per cent reduction in delayed bed days in the space of a year.
Councillor Cathy Bayton, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: "I am delighted our hard work and innovation has been recognised at a national level. We have come from one of the worst to one of the best performing local authorities in this area, something we are all very proud of.
"Delayed bed days is something that affects local authorities and hospitals up and down the country and takes a lot of effort, partnership work, and paying attention to the sensitivities of our most vulnerable people, to drive these figures down.
"We have made a very clear commitment to putting people first and helping them live independently in their own communities, and one of the ways is to help them leave hospital in a timely and caring way.”
Diane Wake, chief executive of the Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust which runs Russells Hall Hospital, added: "Ensuring that patients receive the right care in the right place when they leave hospital is really important to us, and working with our partners in social care is vital in providing this for people.
"We value our close working with Dudley Council and together are ensuring that when patients leave hospital they are being discharged to a suitable location where they can be properly cared for.
"We meet with them daily and have seen delays in discharges to care homes and complex dementia placements both reduced.”
Dudley Council was awarded £13.9 million from the government's Improved Better Care Fund to spend over three years to tackle some of the most pressing issues in health and adult social care. In the first year, the council committed to spending £7 million introducing a package of measures to support older people to leave hospital as soon as they are medically fit to do so, reducing cases of delayed transfer of care.
The awards event will take place in Westminster on March 6.
