The remedy is common sense

FOR THOSE people who cannot fathom how the National Health Service is haemorrhaging so much money at a time when the need to make efficiencies has never been greater, part of the answer can be found in today’s Age UK report which exposes a strained relationship between hospitals and community care providers.

The financial costs are significant – and growing. The cost of delays in discharging elderly patients from hospital now stands at £526m – money that could have been spent on hiring extra doctors and nurses. It does not end here. More frail and vulnerable OAPs are having to spend even longer in hospital while they wait for adaptations to be carried out to their own homes so they can still use the stairs, for example, or be in a position to cook meals. These are beds that hospitals could be using to treat other patients.

However, it would be imprudent not to put these difficulties into context. Town hall social care budgets have borne the brunt of the coalition’s local government cuts while an ageing society – and the simple fact that many elderly people cannot always count on the help of their relatives – has added to the pressures facing hospitals and care homes.

That is accepted. What is unacceptable is those instances when there is insufficient co-operation between hospitals and local authorities. Yes, this depends on the ability of the Government to overhaul care funding – but it also requires the professionals concerned to accept that it is a waste of public money when an elderly person has to wait in hospital for a month, the assertion of Age UK, for adequate arrangements to be put in place before they are discharged. This is why the remedy has to involve a healthy dose of pragmatism before a wider rethink about the benefits of merging the NHS and care budgets so there is a far closer alignment between services in the future.

Growth dividend

Countryside still has potential

THERE will be many factors behind today’s survey which highlights, once again, the pre-eminence of Yorkshire’s agricultural industry. The county’s farms are enjoying the green shoots of recovery thanks to campaigns to promote local produce, while the North, thankfully, avoided the worst of the floods that afflicted other parts of the country.

Yet, despite this optimism, nothing can be taken for granted as farmers prepare for next month’s Great Yorkshire Show when town and rural communities come together to celebrate the enduring success of the British countryside. A consequence of the supermarket price wars, welcomed by many, is the further squeezing of farm incomes. There’s also the small matter of persuading the banks to invest in plans to convert redundant buildings into homes and offices as part of the rural economy’s evolution.

Such issues will not be reconciled overnight – these concerns, and others, pre-date the coalition – but they are indicative of farming’s untapped potential and whether this could be rectified by the election of commissioners for national parks like the Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and Peak District.

A slightly surprising inclusion in the Queen’s Speech, the notion deserves consideration – even though the advent of crime commissioners failed to capture the electorate’s imagination. For, while many farmers would prefer less red tape rather than the creation of another tier of bureaucracy, this role could have significant benefits if it leads to farming issues being taken more seriously at a local, regional, national and European level.

Jobs and schools

Why Gove reforms must inspire

IF THE controversy about the teaching of Christian values in a multi-cultural society was not enough to occupy Michael Gove, the restless Education Secretary now wants to overhaul the GCSE and A-level syllabuses simultaneously.

Predictably, his well-intended proposals are proving to be divisive. Teachers are weary of the meddling of a succession of Cabinet Ministers while the universities want the reforms to be staggered so they can still identify the brightest students.

Such concerns, however, must not detract from the wider picture and the need for the curriculum to become even more relevant to young people, a point highlighted by Doncaster sixth form student Jonathan Howell on the opposite page. His self-confidence has been transformed by spending time with young entrepreneurs and it would be remiss of Mr Gove to ignore this. After all, today’s pupils are tomorrow’s wealth creators – a notion invariably lost in the febrile politics of education.