§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to his answer to the hon. Member for Bethnal Green and Bow (Ms King) of 28 November 2002,Official Report, column 413W, on patient discharge, what financial incentives the Community Care (Delayed Discharges, etc.) Bill places on the national health service to ensure that they tackle delayed transfers of care. [86256]
306W
§ Jacqui Smith[holding answer 9 December 2002]: The national health service has clear incentives to reduce the time that people wait for discharge; not least because this frees up capacity to treat more patients who are waiting for treatment. The access and capacity targets and the monitoring of performance ensure that this is given a high priority. The provisions in the Community Care (Delayed Discharges) Bill will ensure that there are financial incentives for social services to play their part in providing community services where delays are their responsibility. In addition, from April 2004, the NHS will be introducing a new system of financial flows that will ensure that acute trusts do not benefit financially where patients are re-admitted to hospital within a set period.