NHS England data shows record discharge delays

Record levels of delays are being witnessed by NHS hospitals at the moment, according to new data from NHS England.

There were nearly 185,000 days of delays in July 2016, up by around one-quarter compared to the same month last year. This comes at a time when accident and emergency, cancer care, ambulance response time and routine operation targets are also being missed.

It was indicated that these delays may be caused by a lack of available care in the community, meaning vulnerable patients are being kept in hospital past the point where they should be discharged while they wait for safe arrangements to be made.

Medical sector representatives have responded to the data with concern, due to the fact that the summer months are typically characterised by reduced demand on the NHS compared to winter.

Nigel Edwards of the Nuffield Trust thinktank told BBC News: "I am very concerned that these official figures systematically understate the true scale of the problem – I think NHS England and the Department of Health should look more rigorously at the way they calculate these delays."

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