Nuffield Trust responds to Healthwatch England research on emergency readmissions

Commenting on the Healthwatch England research on emergency readmissions [1], Nuffield Trust Chief Executive Nigel Edwards said:

“With winter around the corner, this study provides yet more evidence that the NHS is under severe pressure. Persistently high numbers of patients being readmitted to hospital in an emergency signals problems across the health and social care system.

“But, as this report makes clear, the reasons behind these readmissions are a lot more complex than hospitals sending patients home too quickly. In some cases it is likely that they will have been caused by changes to the ways hospitals run services – for example through using special units to treat patients without an overnight stay in hospital. In other cases it might be because people are living with many different life-threatening conditions, like heart disease and respiratory problems, which may require hospital treatment.

“Nonetheless, we know that readmission rates for older people are far higher in England than in some similar countries and they are more likely to be admitted as emergencies: people in their late 80s are 20% more likely to be readmitted to hospital in England than in the Netherlands, for example. This suggests that a lack of care outside of hospital – whether through council-run social care or community health services – is part of the problem here.

“This report reveals the scant national data available to understand and analyse emergency readmissions. This is particularly poor, given the public interest in health and social care and the pressures facing both areas.”