NHS may fund elderly private beds

Each wrongly used bed is said to cost £1,200 a week

Some elderly hospital patients could be transferred to private nursing homes at NHS expense, under radical plans being considered by the government.

Health Minister John Denham said the government would be "daft" not to consider trying to save money and free hospital beds by asking private homes to look after patients following hospital treatment.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "You have got a lot of patients, particularly elderly patients, in hospitals who don't need to be there but can't yet go home, they need rehabilitation. "

Department of Health research suggests that as many as one in five beds in acute wards are not being put to proper use, which is costing up to £1,200 per bed each week.

Empty beds

The beds in private homes could be obtained for only a third of the cost.

The move could ease the shortage of hospital beds as well as providing cheaper care.

There are around 200,000 private nursing home beds across the UK, of which around 30,000 are estimated to empty at any one time.

That compares with a serious shortage of hospital beds.

Social security budget

If the plan is approved, it will represent a radical shift in NHS thinking.

Until now, attention has focused on moving elderly people from NHS beds when their care needs no longer justify them remaining there.

Those who are moved must either pay for their own care if they have the means, with the social security budget meeting the cost of care for the less well-off.

The idea of transferring some patients at NHS expense has emerged from workshops held to discuss the situation, the Department of Health says.

'No compromises'

Age Concern has given the plans a cautious welcome.

A spokesman for the charity said: "We are giving the idea a cautious welcome. The crucial factor is whether it is going to be safe. There needs to be doctors available to intervene in possible complications.

"It is about standards and making sure you are not compromising elderly people. So they don't feel they are being farmed out just because of their age."

The spokesman added: "There is nothing unusual about the NHS buying up beds in the private sector.

"Earlier this year Health Secretary Alan Milburn was talking about having more cottage hospitals.

"Home from home hospital schemes, where people are nursed at home, have had mixed success, all depending on how good the local authority is."