Commenting on the Combined Performance Summary for July published this morning by NHS England, Nigel Edwards, Chief Executive of the Nuffield Trust health think-tank said:
“Today’s statistics, covering July, show that the days of a traditional summer respite for the NHS are gone for good. The figure for delays in discharging patients from hospital is particularly worrying - up by a quarter in just 12 months. What’s more, I am very concerned that these official figures systematically understate the true scale of the problem - I think NHS England and the Department of Health should look more rigorously at the way they calculate these delays. The NHS stands no chance of transforming the way care is delivered to patients while it is still struggling with this problem”.