CSP: Discharge Failures Result of 'Iron Curtain' Between Health and Care

The Chief Executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists has criticised the way health and care services are organised, saying that an 'iron curtain' between health and care has resulted in poor hospital discharge rates.

Source: Chartered Society of Physiotherapists

CSP Chief Executive Karen Middleton's comments were the latest in a series of criticisms sparked off by a report from the House of Commons' Public Administration and Constitutional Affair Committee.

The committee's report was damning about unsafe discharges from hospital, citing witness testimonials illustrating the devastating impact prolonged stays in hospital were having on older people.

It went on to suggest that establishing good models of integrated working  between health and care systems was necessary if these concerns were to be alleviated.

These prolonged stays were caused by delays in organising care packages for patients and disputes over funding - a result of the 'iron curtain' that continues to divide health and care services on too many occasions, according to Middleton.

She argued that a lack of preventive programmes and community rehabilitation services - including physiotherapy - were causing 'two big problems.'

She said: "It is either leaving people languishing in hospital, when it is possible and desirable for them to return home, or it is causing rushed and poorly planned discharges, which can lead to readmissions.

"We need to see much more radical and rapid progress towards integration accompanied by investment in staff and services necessary to deliver it on the frontline."

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