Rise in re-admissions blamed on NHS targets

Tories claim re-admission figures show targets are damaging patient care

Tuesday, 08, Aug 2006 12:00

Government pressure for hospitals to meet waiting lists is leading to some patients being discharged before they are ready, the Conservatives have claimed.

Official figures today reveal the number of NHS emergency re-admissions has risen by nearly a third since 2002, from 5.3 per cent to 7.1 per cent earlier this year.

Shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley, who obtained the statistics in a parliamentary answer, warned that the pressure on hospitals to meet waiting times and to deal with financial pressure was to blame for over-hasty discharging of patients.

However, health minister Lord Warner rejected this analysis, insisting government targets had improved patient care and arguing that the vast majority of re-admissions were not linked to someone's previous hospital visit but to an underlying condition.

Official department statistics show that 124,176 patients were re-admitted within 28 days of being discharged in the summer of 2002, compared to 198,777 in April this year.

Mr Lansley said the figures were "worrying", warning: "On the face of it hospitals may be discharging patients sooner than they should be, resulting in a greater risk of emergency re-admission."

He stressed: "High bed occupancy rates and the government's push to achieve waiting time targets may be responsible for compromising patient safety in this way.

"It is also inefficient to readmit patients, adding extra costs to many hospitals already overstretched by deficits."

Liberal Democrat health spokesman Steve Webb noted that the financial crisis in the NHS, which saw trusts record debts of £526 million last year, meant that doctors and managers were under "huge pressure" to cut the length of time people stay in hospital.

"These figures show what can happen when financial pressures get in the way of clinical priorities. It is a false economy to send people home too soon only to have them re-admitted at a later stage," he warned.

However, Lord Warner insisted it was up to doctors to decide who should be re-admitted, and their main concern was the well-being of their patients.

"Good professional practice and official guidance makes it clear that discharge must be properly planned, appropriate community services should be in place, and patients should not be discharged until it is safe to do so," he said.

Alan Russell, deputy chairman of the BMA's consultants committee, added that he would be "very worried" if the figures did in fact reflect a change in the worse for patient care, particularly if it was caused by pressure on hospitals to meet government targets.