£800m: NHS hospital bill for old folk with nowhere else to go
Delays in discharging older patients from hospital when they no longer need care is costing the NHS in England more than £800 million a year, a new report has concluded.
The health service is shelling out £820 million every year on so-called bed-blocking - which occurs when patients are medically fit to leave but care has not yet been organised to help them outside of hospital, according to a new report by the National Audit Office (NAO).