Tackling delayed transfers of care: ‘Stay at Home Assessments’ could help save the Welsh NHS up to £21 million a year
Welsh Conservatives will today announce plans to tackle delayed transfers of care in Wales; plans they claim could save the Welsh NHS up to £21 million a year.
The proposals will be the subject of a Senedd debate this afternoon led by Shadow Minister for Social Services, Dr Altaf Hussain AM.
Writing for Click on Wales this morning, Dr Hussain unveils home vists for older people in Wales.
Under a Welsh Conservative Government, upon retirement, each person in Wales would receive a ‘Stay at Home Assessment’ – or MOT – by social services.
The purpose of the assessments would be to ensure that people have the necessary support in place to stay safely in their homes for as long as possible. A preventative measure which would reduce the number of hospital admissions.
Not only would the visits help social services plan for future home adaptations, they would improve available data for clinicians and Occupational Therapists planning for hospital discharges.
Welsh Conservatives claim that the scheme could save the Welsh NHS as much as £21 million a year by reducing delayed transfers of care.
Writing for Click on Wales this morning, Dr Hussain said:
“As the number of older people in the UK continues to rise we find that more and more people want the opportunity to live in their homes for as long as they possibly can.
“Our ‘Stay at Home Assessments’ would ensure that people have the necessary support in place to enable them to stay safely in their homes for longer; giving social services an opportunity to make any necessary home adaptations as early as possible, as well as assessing future need.
“Early intervention can be an effective way to prevent hospitalisations in the first place, but can also to help clinicians to better plan for a return to the home environment after a hospital admission, reducing incidences of so-called ‘bed blocking’
“Ultimately we need to take steps to help people to live independently for longer, empowering people to stay in their own homes, but – crucially – also reducing anxiety levels for friends and family concerned about the safety and comfort of their loved ones.”
