Meeting of the Parliament 14 January 2015
Let me make some progress.
It is essential that preparations are made for winter, and there has been a huge amount of preparation for this winter. So far, as part of our £50 million national unscheduled care plan, we have made £28 million available this year to improve general performance over winter, which includes tackling delayed discharges, and the number of A and E consultants has almost tripled: it has risen from 75.8 to 207.4. In addition, we have increased the number of intermediate care beds by 200—that is on top of the 500 that are already in the system—and, over the next few weeks, we will continue to work with the royal colleges, which have endorsed that plan, to make further improvements. I absolutely accept that further improvements need to be made.
I turn to delayed discharge. As I said earlier, tackling delayed discharge is my top priority. I want to eradicate it from the system. Richard Simpson was quite right to go back to when we did that. The challenges have been to do with the existence of two systems that do not always work together. That is why we brought in through legislation the biggest public sector reform in years, which will bring those two systems together.
Delayed discharge has no upside. It is the worst outcome for individuals at the highest cost to the system. I am very confident that integration will help to tackle the problem. The Parliament is also convinced of that and has passed the legislation to make that a reality from April. We have not waited for integration to take place. We have been taking action to tackle delayed discharge now. My officials have been working closely with seven partnerships, including those in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, to tackle some of the worst delays in the system.
I am encouraged by signs that this is starting to bear fruit. Some partnerships are investing the additional resources in more home care, as we would want them to, but we are also seeing the development of intermediate care and technology solutions; more care home places of improved quality; and the recruitment of our workforce and training to retain and motivate them.