2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:33 pm on 22 November 2022.

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Photo of Janet Finch-Saunders Janet Finch-Saunders Conservative 2:33, 22 November 2022

I'd very much like a statement from the Minister for health and the Minister for social care on the number of unsafe discharges from hospital. I'll declare an interest at this point because this example I'm going to give now involves a very close 98-year-old family relative. 

Two weeks ago, this relative suffered as a result of a car accident and was taken into hospital, and suffered a broken shoulder and other mobility issues as a result of this accident. Yesterday, without any notice as such, that person was taken home at lunchtime yesterday by the ambulance. No care provision in place at all, and it was only when I was on my way here to Cardiff, just before 5 o'clock, that that person had been sat in a chair, obviously no access to food, drinks or the ability to go to the toilet. I phoned to be told the care package was kicking in the next day and that I had nothing to worry about. I then phoned the hospital, who could not tell me what care was going in. In short, I just phoned round as many people I knew last night, and we did manage to get some support in, at about 7.30 p.m. So, that individual had been sat in a chair for seven hours. I was advised last night that this was an unsafe discharge and that it wasn't rare, that this is happening on too frequent a basis—and this came from somebody working within that provision. Hence why I would be really grateful if the health Minister, and indeed the social care Minister, would be so kind as to give a statement. I sat here during the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, where this kind of thing was going to stop—health and social care was going to be more joined up. There is no joined-up thinking in, certainly, the unsafe discharge that affected my family relative. But, as somebody who represents a large number of elderly constituents, I want some guarantees that this won't happen again to either my constituent, or indeed any constituents of any of the Members sat here. Thank you.