Five-day Hospital Beds (Hansard, 23 October 1984)

§ 12. Mr. Dobson
asked the Secretary of State for Social Services whether he is satisfied that the operation of five-day hospital beds is fair to people who live alone.

§ Mr. John Patten
The use of five-day wards, and indeed of other types of short-stay wards including day beds, can lead to an increase in the number of patients treated. However, such patients need careful selection, taking account not only of the probable length of stay but of the availability of adequate care afterwards.

§ Mr. Dobson
Does the Minister accept that on the evidence of a leaflet prepared for five-day hospital stay patients at Charing Cross hospital they are being told that if they cannot make their own transport arrangements and provide food for themselves at weekends they can go to the end of the list? Does that not mean that many of the most deprived people in society are being ruled out of obtaining access to five-day beds at a time when, as in Hammersmith, there are reductions in the number of home helps, meals on wheels services and health visitors? Will that not be exacerbated by rate-capping and by constant pressure from the Government to reduce the provision of the services that would make the use of five-day beds reasonable for the worse off?

§ Mr. Patten
The hon. Gentleman suggests that the use of five-day beds is not being helped by the way in which clinical practice is carried out. I have not seen the leaflet to which he referred and he did not send it to me beforehand. All I can say is that all guidance that goes from my Department to clinicians stresses that they must consult general practitioners and primary health teams before they decide whether a patient is suitable for five-day or shorter treatment in hospitals.

§ Mr. Heddle
Does my hon. Friend agree that better utilisation of five-day beds for patients who live alone and others could take place if hospital waiting lists were computerised? Will he take this opportunity to confirm to the House his Department's commitment at least to carrying out a pilot study on the computerisation of hospital waiting lists, and to confirm that the West Midlands regional health authority has instructions from his Department to carry out such a pilot study?

§ Mr. Patten
I am thoroughly in favour of such a pilot study. We have offered some money to the West Midlands regional health authority so that it can carry out a valuable study of the bed bank idea, which my hon. Friend has to a large extent pioneered. Somewhat surprisingly for a regional health authority, having been offered money, it is going rather slowly with the project. I wish that the authority would get on with it.

§ Mr. Meadowcroft
Does the Minister accept that one problem with five-day hospital beds is the occasional need for emergency readmission? What guidelines has he given to clinicians to cope with that problem?

§ Mr. Patten
Clinicians have every opportunity to enable them to allow emergency readmission. About 50 per cent. of all patients in NHS hospitals come in immediately on emergency admission procedures, and I have no evidence to suggest that anyone who needs emergency treatment is not so treated immediately.