Calls for telecare in Edinburgh (UK)

Steve Hards

This article calls for the wide-scale introduction of telecare in Edinburgh to tackle its chronic problem of people who are occupying hospital beds because they have not been found an alternative place of care (‘bed blockers’). The author draws unfavourable comparisons with neighbouring areas. “West Lothian Council has undoubtedly had the greatest success in tackling bed blocking. It has remained consistently at the top of national performance tables, and in June there was just one patient in the whole region stuck in hospital with nowhere to go. Midlothian had 19 delayed discharge patients, East Lothian had 18, and Edinburgh had 112.” Alan Roden in the LivingScotsman.com (Edinburgh Evening News)