Figures showing a fall in the number of days people have been kept in hospital because of a lack of alternative care is a ‘testament to the hard work done by councils’, council chiefs say.
Cllr Seccombe said the reduction to 145,300 total 'delayed days' in December from 195,400 the year before should incentivise the Government to fully fund the social care system.
The Government Statistical Service said the new figures were the lowest since August 2015 and the delays attributable to social care had fallen to 33.9% of the total from 36% in December 2017.
Cllr Seccombe, chairman of the Local Government Association’s (LGA) community wellbeing board, said: 'These new figures show that councils have continued to reduce the number of delayed days, despite a busy and challenging winter period when demands on NHS and adult social care services traditionally increase due to worsening health conditions, which this year has included a widespread flu outbreak.
'This continued improvement is testament to the ongoing hard work by councils to get people out of hospital in a timely and safe manner so they can return to living in their own homes and communities close to their loved ones.
'This should incentivise government to now fully fund our social care system.'
