§ Mr. Simon HughesTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the numbers and cost of elderly patients blocking beds. [17335]
§ Mr. BoatengI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave the hon. Member for North Devon (Mr. Harvey) on 12 November 1997,Official Report, column 602.
Specific information on the cost of delayed discharges is not collected centrally and we have no plans to change this. The Department is seeking to reduce the burden of data collection by the National Health Service and rationalise data flows within the NHS and between the NHS and the centre. The amount of information required to calculate the average cost of delayed discharge would not be in line with this policy.