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15
Dec 2020
IFS study – cuts in social care led to increase in over 65s attending A&E
A study undertaken by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has revealed that cuts to social care funding prompted a rise in unnecessary visits to A&E departments by elderly people.
The IFS report that between 2010 and 2018, spending on social care services for people of retirement age was reduced by 31 per cent, on a per person basis. During the same time frame, the average number of visits a person aged 65 or over made to A&E each year rose by a third.
The rise in A&E visits equates to around one additional visit for every 15 people aged over 65, but was most noticeable among the poor and the very elderly (those aged 85 and over).
The IFS added that there was evidence that these extra visits to A&E prompted by difficulties in accessing social care, placed an unnecessary additional strain on already pressured hospitals, as the majority ot those visits did not have any medical issue which needed treating.
The study said “This indicates that some older individuals, following a reduction in the quantity or quality of social care that they receive, ended up presenting in hospital with minor complaints that would likely have been better addressed in a non-hospital environment.
“Increased use of A&E departments is likely distressing for the affected individuals, and we provide evidence that the performance of those departments suffered as a result of the influx of additional elderly patients.”
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Posted by Tony May, Partner/head of Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.
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