PROVISION OF INTERMEDIATE CARE AND COMMUNITY HOSPITALS

Motion Text

That this House recognises the valuable work carried out by community and cottage hospitals in providing intermediate and step-down care; notes that the cost of treating a patient in a local community hospital is often significantly lower than the cost of treating one in a district general hospital; further notes that delayed discharge as a result of lack of capacity at the intermediate care level continues to plague the NHS, leading to a shortage of acute beds; further notes that many community hospitals in Oxfordshire, such as Townlands hospital in Henley-on-Thames, are threatened with closure; and calls upon the Government to ensure that these proposed closures are forestalled and that community hospitals are placed back at the heart of community care.