Bed blocking still a problem in Birmingham - report

Dec 9 2009 By Neil Elkes, Paul Dale and Sophie Cross

Audit Commissioners today give their verdict on local public services. The wide-ranging Oneplace report covers all council, police, health and fire services. Neil Elkes, Paul Dale and Sophie Cross report on how Birmingham and Solihull have fared.

BED blocking remains a major problem in Birmingham with about 150 people stuck in the city’s hospitals when they are fit enough to go home.

The delays in leaving hospital are among the highest in England with some patients staying three months more than necessary according to the report.

Birmingham’s public authorities have been given a damning red flag over bed blocking and told to make major improvements.

But Government inspectors have also awarded Birmingham two green flags for excellence for the city’s efforts to tackle global warming and exceeding targets for affordable housing.

However, it is the damning verdict on bed blocking, a problem which has troubled the city for more than a decade, which will cause concern.

The Audit Commission Oneplace report said: “This is a problem that needs a joined up solution and requires the council, the Primary Trusts and hospitals working better together. This issue has been around for many years and has been a priority for improvement.

“Not only has it not been resolved, it is now getting worse.

“Delays don’t just waste public money, they deny hospital care to people who need it and prevent those confined to a hospital bed from enjoying a better life at home or in the community.”

The city’s strategic policy group Be Birmingham was quick to point out that steps had been taken to resolve the bed blocking problem since the inspections earlier this year.

Be Birmingham’s NHS executive Sophia Christie said that two new convalescence wards, a sort of halfway house between hospital and community care, had been set up to ease the pressure. She said: “We have come a long way but it is not good enough and that is why we have this red flag.”

The Oneplace report follows detailed inspections earlier this year.

The city’s health was highlighted as a cause for concern with massive differences in life expectancy between deprived and better off areas, premature mortality in men and some of the highest infant mortality rates in the UK.

Dianne Thomas, Oneplace spokeswoman for Birmingham, said: “Compared with other big cities, Birmingham is a safe place to live. Its streets are getting cleaner and there isn’t as much graffiti or litter as elsewhere. The way the city is reducing CO2 emissions is also commendable, as is its support for people who have lost their jobs and for struggling businesses.”

* The full reports can be seen at www.direct.gov.uk/oneplace

* Housing - Homes target joy

TARGETS for providing decent and affordable homes for Birmingham citizens have not only been met but vastly exceeded, earning the city a green flag from inspectors.

Asked to build 600 new affordable homes in the last year, the council and social housing sector has built 975.

The council is also on target to fit all its properties with double glazing and central heating by next year.

The council’s work with partner agencies such as St Basil’s and the Family Housing Association to help young people out of homelessness and unemployment was also highlighted, bringing the number of rough sleepers down from 56 to four during 2008/9.

* Children's Services - Major setback for the leaders

SERVICES for children run by Birmingham City Council are continuing to perform badly.

It’s a major setback for council leaders who insist huge improvements have been made since the Government said a year ago that services for children at risk of sexual and physical abuse were inadequate.

The council’s children’s social care department was placed under an improvement notice at the start of the year.

Bosses are hopeful that the must-do-better order will be lifted in 2010, despite a recent scrutiny inquiry which found children’s services to be unfit for purpose.

Today’s “performing poorly” applies to all of Birmingham’s children’s services including schools.

But the bad ranking is driven by continuing problems in social services.

A council spokesman said a “raft of improvements” in recent months had not been recognised, adding that Birmingham achieved its best ever school exam results this year, with GCSE attainment above the national average.

Coun Les Lawrence, cabinet member for children, said: “We believe this is unfair. This fails to take account of the tremendous strides we have made in the last year.”

But Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood (Lab), a critic of social services, said: “The council is trying to wriggle its way out of this damning judgement by using PR waffle. They are bringing in expensive consultants when they should be improving working conditions for front-line staff.”

* Environment - Green success

THE city council’s efforts to cut carbon emissions and meet the climate-change challenge were appropriately given a green flag for excellence, having made stand-out progress.

Inspectors praised the linking of green policy to regeneration and the local economy and highlight initiatives in South Lozells and Northfield and the award-winning Summerfield eco-project in Edgbaston to help householders cut fuel bills, as huge successes.

The installation of energy-efficient combined heat and power systems to fuel public and council-owned buildings, the pledge to replace the council fleet with electric or LPG vehicles by 2015 and the promise to make homes more energy efficient was also applauded.

* Crime - Brum the safest major city in UK

BIRMINGHAM is the cleanest and safest of all the UK’s major cities according to the Audit Commission, and city leaders were surprised this too did not merit a green flag.

Total crime is down 33 per cent over the last five years and the number of violent crimes fell by seven per cent last year.

Birmingham citizens has one of the highest levels of concern over anti-social behaviour, but also has some of the highest levels of approval of police efforts to deal with the problem.

Chief Supt Paul Scarrott said: “Birmingham is the safest of all the core cities which is a great achievement. There has been a reduction of 46,000 crimes in the last five years and road traffic accidents are down 26 per cent.”

* Solihull - Town’s north south divide

SOLIHULL Council achieved generally positive results in the Oneplace report.

The news comes the week after the council came under fire when it was revealed the Care Quality Commission ranked the quality of its adult social care services as among the worst in the country.

The report highlighted stark inequalities in health and employment prospects between the north and south of the borough, but showed that around 88 per cent of residents are “very satisfied” with the services they receive. Gary Stevens, Oneplace spokesman for Solihull, said: “People enjoy good health, children get a good start in life, and young people are helped to find work. Public services work well together, with crime falling and standards of housing improving.

“But there are still challenges. North Solihull is very different from the rest of the borough, but the council and NHS are committed to helping people in this part of the borough do as well as other parts of Solihull.”