Bed blocking figures ‘ludicrous’, says Smith

Community Care Market News (News) February 2002Health Minister Jacqui Smith has dismissed allegations that 700,000 elderly people have their hospital discharge delayed each year as ‘ludicrous’. According to Paul Burstow MP, Liberal Democrat spokesman for older people, nearly three-quarters of a million people block acute beds in England each year, equating to 88,000 cancelled operations…