Hospitals: Discharges
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to reduce the backlog of delayed discharges from hospitals.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
The Government is working to reduce delayed discharges, ensuring that people are not stuck in hospital beds when they are well enough to go home. We will tackle delayed discharges by improving local partnership working between the National Health Service and the social care system, making sure that people get the right support to return home as soon as possible. To drive improvements, we will work with those systems experiencing the worst discharge delays, utilising senior experts from across local government and the NHS.
On 30 January 2025, the Government published a revised Better Care Fund policy framework for 2025/26. The Better Care Fund helps local systems to plan joint health and social care, including support for those with complex discharge needs. The new framework is better aligned with the Government’s Health Mission and will take effect on 1 April 2025. As part of this, the NHS and local authorities will be expected to make measurable improvements on delayed discharges.
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