Agenda item

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Angela Macpherson, Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing  

“I have been made aware of a case of a Buckingham resident’s experience in a Milton Keynes Hospital who has not been discharged for five months as his care home said they could no longer cater for his needs.  For Buckingham residents this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. There was also confusion about who was responsible for funding and for submitting necessary forms.  Could the Cabinet Member please explain who is responsible for co-ordinating hospital discharges to facilitate a move from Milton Keynes to Buckinghamshire health and social care and for delivering good outcomes for these residents including communicating with relatives about their pathway. In particular how is Buckinghamshire Council collaborating with partners to resolve discharge issues with neighbouring Trusts to improve things for the future? “

Question from Councillor Robin Stuchbury to Councillor Angela Macpherson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Health and Wellbeing

“I have been made aware of a case of a Buckingham resident’s experience in a Milton Keynes Hospital who has not been discharged for five months as his care home said they could no longer cater for his needs.  For Buckingham residents this seems to be the norm rather than the exception. There was also confusion about who was responsible for funding and for submitting necessary forms.  Could the Cabinet Member please explain who is responsible for co-ordinating hospital discharges to facilitate  a move from Milton Keynes to Buckinghamshire health and social care and for delivering good outcomes for these residents including communicating with relatives about their pathway. In particular how is Buckinghamshire Council collaborating with partners to resolve discharge issues with neighbouring Trusts to improve things for the future? “

RESPONSE from Councillor Z Mohammed (on behalf of A Macpherson)

I am sorry to hear of the reported experience of the Buckingham resident and thank you for drawing this case to my attention. Adult social care aims to ensure each and every person receives clear information about discharge and timely support through joint working with our partners. Whilst this individual’s experience is not the norm, I apologise for the service received and the learning from this case is feeding into our Health and Social Care Integration Programme.

For Buckinghamshire residents who need social care support when they are discharged from Milton Keynes University Hospital, the Council’s Adult Social Care service works closely with the Hospital to support and organise care, either in the resident’s own home or other long term care setting, such as a care home.

We have a social worker based at Milton Keynes University Hospital and daily communication with the hospital to support such discharges and to ensure there is effective liaison with the individual and their relatives. In addition to this Buckinghamshire Healthcare Trust and Milton Keynes University Hospital work closely together to identify Buckinghamshire residents who may require rehabilitation and transfer to a community hospital (such as Buckingham Community Hospital).

Improving hospital discharge for our residents is the key focus of the health and care integration programme. With respect to social care, social workers will start speaking with patients and their families earlier in their hospital stay (working with ward-based multidisciplinary teams) to start planning the patient’s discharge. The key benefit of this will be reduced delays and a much better hospital discharge experience for our residents who will require social care. In Buckinghamshire, we are setting up a new “Transfer of Care Hub” to be operational by October. This new team is being designed to co-ordinate discharges efficiently, with case-managers for more complex cases, and a dedicated role co-ordinating out of county cases. This marks a significant change from current processes. We are also working with neighbouring areas, including Milton Keynes, on the development of their transfer of care services. Neighbouring systems are represented within the Buckinghamshire Executive Partnership which oversees the transformation of discharge services, and representatives regularly participate in the design of these new ways of working.