To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the costs to the NHS of delayed hospital discharge.

The Department does not collect data on the cost of delayed transfers of care. Data on the number of delays are published each month by the Department.

We have made significant sums of money available in this spending review period to reduce the level of delayed discharges to a minimum. In the last financial year, an extra £162 million was made available to local health and care services to spend on front-line services, and an additional £70 million of funding was available for spend on helping people to return to their homes after a spell in hospital. This money was aimed at helping people to leave hospital more quickly, get settled back at home with the support they need, and to prevent unnecessary admissions to hospital. This year, there is £150 million available for re-ablement and £648 million for social care spend that also benefits the national health service.