Hospitals have had to cope with the highest number of emergency admissions to hospital from care homes on record. The number of emergency admissions have risen by half in four years (22,682 in 2014/15 from 13,906 in 2010/11). Many blame cost pressures within the care sector on these figures which may be caused by the lack of funding for excellent levels of care in the sector.
The increase in admissions to hospital is said to be as a result of cuts to care funding which may partly be a result of the inability of local authorities to appropriately fund the care of those individuals in need.
The importance of this rise in emergency admission is that it is alleged that many of the admissions could be avoided if the elderly and frail are given appropriate care to avoid hospitalisation. The Government has criticised these figures that show the increase in emergency admissions as they fail to take into account the rise in the elderly population of the UK. It is still worthwhile to note the increase in emergency admissions if only to highlight the increased pressures placed on the NHS owing to the lack of available funding for social care.
