British Red Cross report highlights that older people at risk from emergency hospital readmissions

The report warns of an 'endless cycle of avoidable hospital readmissions,' in which some frail, older or vulnerable people are sent home from hospital, without the right care in place, only to go straight back to emergency departments.

The charity says that many of the older or vulnerable people it supports don’t feel safe in their own homes and fears they may be returning from hospital to unsuitable conditions.

Jeremy Hughes, Chief Executive at Alzheimer's Society, said:

'Today's report vividly paints an all too familiar picture. Many vulnerable people with dementia have repeated and extended hospital stays because of a lack of available support in the community.

'It's of little suprise that a social care system starved of funding cannot be responsive to the needs of frail, older people.

'When a person with dementia returns home from hospital to a setting poorly equipped to prevent falls, with limited or no support with daily tasks, the consequences can be grave and they soon find themselves in need of emergency care.

'The perilous situation of the social care system has been all too well documented. The forthcoming Government consultation must amount to wide scale reform otherwise people with dementia will continue to pay the price of a system that is patently not fit for purpose.'

Unite with us in demanding the Government to fix dementia care.