title: Discharging responsibilities.
abstract: Ever since its passage in 2003, the Community Care (Delayed Discharges etc) Act has provoked controversy and strong reactions among health and social care practitioners. While delayed hospital discharge has long been a key policy problem, much of the debate has focused on the system of 'reimbursement,' which some saw as an unfair attempt to penalise social care for issues beyond their control, but which others saw as long overdue financial incentives to encourage good practice. In reality, the subsequent implementation of the Act seems to have had less of a negative impact than many commentators (myself included!) predicted.