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LGA responds to PACAC report on unsafe discharge from hospital
Cllr Izzi Seccombe, Chairman of the LGA's Community Wellbeing Board, responds to a report by the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee on unsafe discharge from hospital.
"Councils don't want to see anyone go through the distressing experience of not being able to leave hospital in a safe and timely way and are doing all they can to avoid this ever happening.
"Getting people out of hospital more quickly and back living at home will only work properly if councils get enough resource throughout the whole year to fund adequate provision of care services.
"It is therefore pleasing that the Committee recommends the Government sets out how it will adequately fund adult social care, and integrate health and social care plans across the country.
"Councils are absolutely committed to reducing the level of delayed transfers of care from the NHS and in the vast majority of areas are working with their local health partners to help reduce pressures on the NHS. But unless social care is properly funded, the NHS is in real danger of collapse.
"While measures announced late last year for social care go some way to addressing the problems facing adult social care funding, concerns remain that future years will still be extremely challenging, particularly until 2018.
"That is why the LGA continues to call for £700 million of the funding earmarked for social care through the Better Care Fund by the end of the decade to be brought forward now, to ease the severe strain on services supporting the elderly and vulnerable."
View report: http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201617/cmselect/cmpubadm/97/9702.htm