Heidi Alexander MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman report into unsafe discharge from hospital, said:

“This report raises serious questions about why older people are still suffering these awful and completely avoidable failures of care.

“Even with all the guidance that is in place too many older people are experiencing a standard of care that falls well below established good practice.

“It should be a matter of course for relatives and carers to be told that a loved one is leaving hospital.

“It is also simply not acceptable for any patient to be discharged before they are medically fit and without a proper assessment of their needs.

“Sadly, the cuts to social care we have seen over the last six years have contributed to some of these failures. The report highlights lengthy delays in providing care in the home for older people, which means they can end up being stuck in hospital wards unnecessarily for weeks or months on end.

“Tory Ministers need to study this report carefully and prioritise making improvements to people’s experience of leaving hospital.”