BASW England responds to hospital discharge announcement
BASW England Statement
Investment in local services is integral to supporting people to remain living in their own homes and local communities. Sustainable long-term investment is critical and although additional funds are welcome, the legacy and ongoing impact of the pandemic, winter pressures, lack of investment in social care and staff vacancies across the social care and health sector continues to bring pressure to an incredibly fragile system.
Additional funds must be used to support people in their own homes where at all possible, to support re-enablement safely and promote the rights and choice of citizens.
The recent reports that in some areas of the country of “care hotels” being used and today’s announcement about buying extra beds in care homes are not the answer for many people who would prefer to be discharged to their own homes.
Social workers and social care staff play an essential role in supporting people to remain living in their own homes in local communities. Citizen choice, rights, and needs must not become secondary to hospital discharge driven processes that focuses on numbers and targets rather than people.
We also await further details of the emergency care recovery plans addressing the three main areas of work:
(1) steps to support the system now.
(2) Work to improve resilience over summer.
(3) Focusing on prevention and treating more people in the community.
The BASW England Hospital discharge sub-group part of the adult social work group will be considering the proposals and the impact of implementation in more detail over the coming months and welcome feedback from members about what is happening your local area.