Written question asked by Roger Gale (Conservative) on Tuesday, 27 March 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 10 April 2001. It was answered by Lord Hutton of Furness (Labour) on Tuesday, 10 April 2001 on behalf of the Department of Health.

Dept of Health

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the impact of closures within the private nursing home and residential care sector on bed blocking and cancellation of elective surgery in National Health Service hospitals.

Answer: Mr. Gale: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the impact of closures within the private nursing home and residential care sector on bed blocking and cancellation of elective surgery in National Health Service hospitals. [156311] Mr. Hutton: We are providing new intermediate care services, which will enable patients to move on from hospital with minimal delay and we provided last year, an extra 523 adult critical care beds to expand post operative capacity. The Department is working to develop a new concordat with the care home sector to maintain capacity and stability in the sector. These initiatives mean that delays in hospital discharge are beginning to reduce.

Secondary information