Don't Delay on Bed-blocking

12.00.00am GMT Tue 13th Nov 2007

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Michael German AM today condemned the First Minister for acting slowly to tackle bed-blocking.

"Bed blocking means a patient remains in a hospital bed because there is nowhere suitable to move them. There might not be available space in a care home, or delays to adapting a patient's home to allow them to live independently.

"The Auditor General recommended that local health boards, commissioning bodies and local services work together to tackle this. The Welsh Liberal Democrats have long called for shared budgets between local health boards and social services so they work together to move the patient to the next stage of care.

The Auditor General's report is unambiguous. This is what needs to be done. Without joint targets and joint budgets, bed blocking will always be a problem. The First Minister didn't give a firm commitment to work towards this. People in Wales deserve better than delayed action on delayed transfers of care"