Patients: Homelessness
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data his Department collects on the number of people discharged from hospital into (a) homelessness and (b) rough sleeping.
Answered by Karin Smyth
The Department and NHS England do not hold data on the number of people discharged from hospital into homelessness or rough sleeping.
The Government is committed to ensuring that no one eligible for homelessness assistance is discharged to the street after a hospital stay. To support this, every acute hospital has access to a multidisciplinary care transfer hub to manage the discharge of people with more complex needs. They work together to plan a person’s discharge, so their health and care needs as well as housing situation are all considered.
The Government published guidance on discharging people at risk of or experiencing homelessness to support staff involved in planning safe and supportive discharge of these patients from hospital, which is available at the following link:
In December 2025, the Government published the National Plan to End Homelessness and Rough Sleeping, setting out a cross-Government approach to preventing homelessness and tackling rough sleeping over the long term, which is available at the following link:
Verbatim has judged this answer against the question that was actually asked — answered, partly answered, or evaded. Sign in to see the verdict →