Skip to content
Welsh Government
Data Provider: Welsh Government Experimental Statistics Pathway of Care Delays by local authority of residence and date

The data represent the number of adults occupying an NHS hospital bed, who were 'clinically optimised' ready to return home or move on to the next stage of care, that experienced a delay in their transfer of more than 48 hours beyond the point they were clinically optimised. 'Next stage of care' refers to all destinations outside of NHS hospitals. Data for local authority of residence, relates to the local authority where the patient typically resides. This could be in a local health board that differs to the health board which covers the area in which they reside.

None
[Collapse]Reason for delay[Filtered]
-
[Collapse]Reason for delay 1[Filter]
-
Reason for delay 2[Filter]
[Collapse]Local health board provider[Filtered]
-
Local health board provider 1[Filter]
Measure1
[Collapse]Local authority of residence[Filter]
-
Local authority of residence 1
Date[Filter]
[Collapse]WalesClick here to sortWales
Click here to sortIsle of AngleseyClick here to sortGwyneddClick here to sortConwyClick here to sortDenbighshireClick here to sortFlintshireClick here to sortWrexhamClick here to sortPowysClick here to sortCeredigionClick here to sortPembrokeshireClick here to sortCarmarthenshireClick here to sortSwanseaClick here to sortNeath Port TalbotClick here to sortBridgendClick here to sortVale of GlamorganClick here to sortCardiffClick here to sortRhondda Cynon TafClick here to sortMerthyr TydfilClick here to sortCaerphillyClick here to sortBlaenau GwentClick here to sortTorfaenClick here to sortMonmouthshireClick here to sortNewportClick here to sortOutside WalesClick here to sortOther - LA not identifiable
April 2023406150445374634782151183927262185180448323375067611,750
May 2023377443394749692474132166755658159130478117384959211,526
June 2023376948426478613661148150968659163129308227395360251,625
July 20233168704661666737751451337210046132115349420434765211,570
August 2023227056666265713964128130587346115185329119444567221,552
September 2023416270576561743859120147719352124151398826455854121,598
October 2023476253365880613755100128785549146172568133524266311,551
November 2023407338465686573059129127677358147158428439424965111,567
December 20234577424059666339459911466505795137346822375056.The data item is not applicable.The data item is not applicable1,361
January 2024346868546076734847108127778763110141318535375759211,548
February 202444514732549764405612413583103741621854172304747501.The data item is not applicable1,639
March 202426494633751187544621171498610473141184405635494949.The data item is not applicable11,661
April 2024357163546410164556312516784118521311774554384459471.The data item is not applicable1,712
May 202431656351607860447113513677123561271624161324058541.The data item is not applicable1,626
June 20243346433374876638721351477012453141185486135405461.The data item is not applicable61,652
July 2024325348467581673865941426610753119176277525445151151,541
August 2024436746296281742845119141769442140229308727346355.The data item is not applicable71,619
September 2024326648344370682757991461058661114235297329416063.The data item is not applicable101,596

Metadata

Title

Pathway of Care Delays

Last update

24/10/2024 24/10/2024

Next update

21/11/2024

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Source 1

Pathways of Care Delays, NHS Delivery Unit

Contact email

stats.healthinfo@gov.wales

Designation

Experimental statistics

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Local authorities

Geographical coverage

Local health boards

Languages covered

English and Welsh

Data licensing

You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

General description

A delayed discharge occurs when a patient who is clinically ready for discharge cannot leave hospital because the necessary ongoing care and support or suitable accommodation for them is not yet accessible.
The data represent the number of adults occupying an NHS hospital bed, who were 'clinically optimised' ready to return home or move on to the next stage of care, that experienced a delay in their transfer of more than 48 hours beyond the point they were clinically optimised. 'Next stage of care' refers to all destinations outside of NHS hospitals.
The figures are a census snapshot of current delays being experienced on a specific day in each month across Wales. They do not reflect the total number of delays that occurred over the month.
The data are used to monitor the number of delays, and the reasons for delays, assisting NHS and Local Authority partners to develop regional plans with a focus on outcome based actions to reduce discharge delays across the health system.

Data collection and calculation

Data are provided by Local Health Boards and validated jointly with Local Authority partners.
The Pathway of Care Delays is a snapshot census that identifies people with a discharge delay and reason at a given point each month. Health Boards are required to extract the data from local systems on a census day in each month, and validate the delays with Local Authority partners. Subsequently, data records are entered via a web-based tool and submitted to NHS Wales.


Frequency of publication

Monthly

Data reference periods

April 2023 onwards

Revisions information

Data are subject to revision

Statistical quality

Data are provided by Local Health Boards and validated jointly with Local Authority partners.
The Pathway of Care Delays is a snapshot census that identifies people with a discharge delay and reason at a given point each month. Health Boards are required to extract the data from local systems on a census day in each month, and validate the delays with Local Authority partners. Subsequently, data records are entered via a web-based tool and submitted to NHS Wales.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Welsh Government suspended delayed transfers of care (DTOC) reporting requirements, along with many other datasets. The Welsh Government introduced the COVID-19 Discharge Requirements, which included an updated discharge process with increased focus on rehabilitation and reablement to improve patient flow and support better outcomes. From July 2020, delayed discharge data were collected as management information on a weekly basis. These data were not formally validated.
Subsequently a formal replacement, Pathways of Care Delays (POCD) has been developed and tested to replace DTOC. This system has now been rolled out across all Local Health Boards & Local Authorities and the first fully validated and quality assured data are available from april 2023.
Welsh Government discharge guidance (COVID-19 Discharge Requirements) sets out the default approach to hospital discharges – the Discharge to Recover then Assess (D2RA) pathways (or 'recovery pathways').
The D2RA approach is based on evidence of better outcomes for people who transfer as soon as possible to their usual residence or other suitable care setting for rehabilitation or reablement prior to assessments for longer term care. A D2RA pathway (or recovery pathway) could be in a person’s own home, in a community hospital or in an alternative step-down setting.


Keywords

Discharge Discharges