Hospitals will send thousands home earlier to free up beds
THOUSANDS of patients will be discharged from hospital more quickly under an NHS drive to free-up beds.
Up to 18,000 hospital beds are currently occupied by ‘long- stay’ patients – those who have been there for at least three weeks.
Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, has promised to reduce this number by a quarter by November to free-up at least 4,000 beds. There are a little over 130,000 beds on the NHS in England, meaning nearly one in eight are occupied by long-stay patients.
The plans have been drawn up jointly by NHS England, which is responsible for the NHS’s day-to-day running, and NHS Improvement, the watchdog.
Hospitals will be urged to work closely with local councils to ensure care is ready for patients in their homes so they can be discharged more quickly.
They have also been told to send many more patients home at the weekend, rather than forcing them to wait until Monday morning.
Discharge rates are typically much lower at weekends because there are fewer staff to fill out the paperwork and ensure patients go home safely.
Doctors and nurses will be instructed to monitor closely the length of time patients stay in hospital.
If patients are on a ward longer than expected – based on their age and condition – this must be flagged up as a safety issue and urgently addressed.
Research has shown that patients over 80 lose ten years of their life for every ten days they spend in hospital.
They lose at least 10 per cent of their muscle mass as a result of being immobile which has a dramatic effect on their health
At the same time, GPs and social care services will be urged to try to prevent patients being admitted to hospital for avoidable reasons. A study last week found that a quarter of patients taken to hospital as emergency cases last year had entirely preventable conditions.
The plans will be announced by Mr Stevens in Manchester today at the conference of the NHS Confederation, the body for organisations that commission and provide NHS services.
He said: ‘Over this past year hospitals and local councils have successfully worked
‘They need to go further’
together and have turned the corner on delays in patients being discharged. Now they need to go further in order to ensure patients are looked after in the right setting for them.’
Ian Dalton, chief executive of NHS Improvement, said: ‘No one wants patients to stay in hospital longer than they have to, or for the health of patients to deteriorate in the very place that is supposed to be making them better. But this is happening all too often and we have to work together to change it.’ NHS officials stressed that patients would not be discharged before they were ready to go home.
Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: ‘ Improved support to ensure patients can stay as well as possible in their own homes, whether immediately after an admission or as a way to prevent one, will be vital in ensuring the NHS meets the changing needs of our population.’