Commenting on the report by the Parliamentary and Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee, which concludes that unsafe discharge from NHS hospitals is unacceptably high, as a result of political maladministration,
Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman Julie Mellor said:
We see too many cases where discharge from hospital has gone horribly wrong, particularly for older, frail people who often don’t have the right support in place at home to cope on their own.
'These shocking failures will continue to happen unless the government tackles the heart of the problem - the chronic underfunding of social care which is piling excruciating pressure on the NHS, leaving vulnerable patients without a lifeline.'
Notes to editors
The committee uses the insight from complaints Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman investigates to hold the Government to account.
The full title of the committee's report is called Follow-up to PHSO report on unsafe discharge from hospital and follows a July inquiry by the committee into the issues highlighted in a report on unsafe discharge in May by the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman.
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman’s unsafe discharge report revealed that patients were being sent home alone, afraid and unable to cope and in some cases without their relatives or carers being told, resulting in devastating consequences.