• Delivery system not fit for the future – heavy reliance on hospital
and bed based services
– Delayed discharge from hospital, particularly from community beds -
Research shows, bed rest in older people in hospital can lead to a
range of harms (Knight et al 2009a,2009b, Nigam et al 2009). Even
in healthy older adults, 10 days of bed rest can lead to a 14%
reduction in leg and hip muscle strength and a 12% reduction in
aerobic capacity: the equivalent of 10 years of life (Kortebein et al
2008).
– High numbers of avoidable emergency admissions compared to
other areas regionally and nationally – high percentage of people
admitted as an emergency are over the age of 65
– Health and social care services not adequately ‘joined’ up leading to
delays in accessing appropriate services and duplication of effort