Bed Blocking and the Private Fee Payer
Bed blocking, we are told, is due to the number of older people who cannot be discharged because there is a supply shortage in the Social Care sector.
Many Social Work departments within hospitals will not work with care providers who are not CQC Registered, but this does not mean that care providers who are Introductory Agencies are offering a lower or less reliable standard of care provision. In fact, often, their standards are higher than CQC registered providers.
Two ways To Access.
The fact is, however, that there are two ways for people to access home care support:
- Those for whom the State provides, organises or pays for.
- Private Fee Payers who wish to choose their care provider themselves.
The majority of Hospital Social Work teams and County Council Social Work teams do not offer information to private fee payers about the providers in the non-registered sector, therefore denying them the choice to choose and to vacate their hospital bed.
As a home care provider for over four decades and in the Introductory Care Provider Sector, I have invited Social Work departments, on many occasions, to meet with my team and me, and offered references from clients, all to no avail. No interest.
At a time of what is described as a national crisis, one would expect that every available resource avenue would be investigated; however, this simply is not taking place.
Angela Gifford January 2022.