Mr. Bernard Gloster:

There is no point in me trying to defend it. With regard to delayed transfers of care, I said in my first appearance before the committee in March that it was a serious and significant priority for me. At that point we were running at an average of just below 600. We have reduced the consistent number of delayed transfers to slightly below 500. I do not think that is good enough and I intend to do more work on it. Ms Day is doing a lot of work with her team, as is Mr. Healy's group in the community.

With regard to the most extreme of complex cases, very often the issue is not one of money but of sourcing the skill set in the onward care placement.