Councils blamed for delays in transfers

A Welsh hospital trust has blamed “council inaction” for a jump in the number of delayed transfers of care.

Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust chair Simon Jones said most new delayed discharges in the past two months had been caused by delays in social services assessing patients’ needs and putting care packages in place.

Jones said: “All this is because there appears to be a complete lack of action by Cardiff and Vale local authorities to do what they are supposed to. They seem to be adopting an ostrich approach.”

Assembly figures show that 28 of the 124 delayed transfers of care in Cardiff last month were attributed to social services, compared with 24 from health services. About one-third of Vale of Glamorgan’s 54 delayed discharges were caused by social care.

A Cardiff Council spokesperson said it was disappointed with the trust’s stance and said a shortage of care home places was largely to blame for delays.

Nationally, 646 patients were delayed in August, up 13 per cent, or 72, on July.

● Figures