19 May 2009
Fewer people in the Caerphilly county borough are being affected by 'bed blocking' thanks to better co-ordination between the council and local health agencies.
A report released by the Auditor General for Wales has revealed that improvements are being made across Wales to reduce cases of delayed transfers of care.
In the Caerphilly county borough there have been a number of positive steps taken to reduce delayed transfers of care – where people in hospital who are ready to move on to the next stage of care are prevented from doing so due to health or social care reasons.
These improvements highlight the strength of the council's collaborative work to alter services, especially in relation to the Joint Hospital Discharge Team, the new Frail Elderly Ward (at Caerphilly Miners) and the development of a special Reablement Service within the authority.
CCBC Cabinet Member for Social Services, Cllr Judith Pritchard said, "We have been working closely with the health service to address this issue and we are encouraged with the results to date. The commitment of senior officers across the council and health services has seen more collaboration at a strategic level which has driven forward this improvement."
The Auditor General said that to sustain such improvement local partners in health and social care, and the Assembly Government, must take a longer term approach and seize opportunities arising from the restructuring of the NHS.
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