Read the full report by Dr Peter Levin  how  limited and poor-quality information is being used to justify a policy of ‘freeing up’ hospital beds, in effect allowing wards and hospitals to be closed.

In Cornwall three community hospitals are currently facing closure. Unfortunately, policy makers seem not to understand that patients stay in hospital not only to recover from their treatment but to go through a process of ‘re-ablement’ so they can regain the skills of daily living and a place in their community.

Re-ablement is difficult to achieve in acute hospitals, where patients are more likely to become institutionalized: it calls for specialized re-ablement centres. Local community hospitals should be utilized for this purpose. Staffed by teams of physiotherapists, counsellors and social workes , providing a base for occupational therapists working in the community. Re-ablement centres would take patients who have gone through their acute treatment and would thereby free up beds in acute hospitals.

Read the full report by Dr Peter Levin here