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Delayed discharge figures are falling but there are concerns that bed blockages are being shifted around the system, the deputy director of the Department of Health's Change Agent Team has admitted.

In August there were about 4,000 delayed discharges, but last month there were only 3,500. In September 2001 the figure was more than 6,000.

But Fran McCabe, deputy director of the Change Agent Team (CAT) told a conference on managing delayed discharges in London last week that she was cautious about the figures. Adding extra beds to create a reduction in the number of delayed discharges could create bottlenecks in other parts of the system, she claimed.


"We are a bit cautious about the figures going down," she said. "We know that in some places it is down to clearing up the data or putting in some extra beds without getting a whole-systems approach so that it builds up blockages in other areas of the system."

McCabe added that the NHS and social services had to work together if the reimbursement system was going to work properly and have benefits for users and both sides.

Warning of "clashing agendas" in local authorities and the NHS, she said: "There's a lot of professional territorialism over who said what and who's legitimate to carry out this piece of work."

The conference was organised by the Harrogate Centre for Excellence in Health and Social Care.