UK to roll out discharge to assess program to tackle hospital bed-blocking

Patients who are ready to leave hospital will be encouraged to return home more quickly under a new scheme.

The Discharge to Assess program, which is being rolled out across Oxfordshire, will offer people three days of immediate social care at home, instead of remaining in hospital.

It follows recent NHS data that showed hundreds of patients in England were taking up hospital beds every day, despite being ready to leave.

It will be introduced from 15 November.

In hospitals across England, an average of 2,033 patients a day were waiting for resources to assess and begin care at home, the NHS figures showed.

But a pilot of the program, which has been running in Oxford and north Oxfordshire since July, has supported 116 people to leave hospital more quickly, the county council said.

The scheme will target patients who will be leaving hospital and returning home, but may need some additional social care support.

A team of nurses, social workers and therapists will consider each case individually, and plan the patient’s best route out of hospital.

Those who are deemed fit to leave hospital will then be discharged within two days, with 72 hours of home-care in place.

Within three days of returning home, they will then receive an assessment to ensure they get the right type of ongoing support.

The NHS previously said it had been working closely with local authorities on a range of initiatives to reduce discharge delays.

Jefferson Lee, a social work coordinator for Oxfordshire County Council, said he now carries out care and financial assessments in people’s homes rather than in a hospital ward.

He said: “After three days of being at home, people who may have been considered as needing a long term care package have adapted so well that they can change onto the reablement pathway.

“I am also able to see people in their usual setting, so I can make more relevant recommendations about potential adaptions, like grab rails or ramps, better supporting people to regain their independence.” BBC