New guidance aims to prevent people with social care needs staying in hospital unnecessarily.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says it will help deal with the ‘revolving door of care’ for adults with social care needs needing treatment, making sure they are able to leave hospital in a coordinated and timely way.
It will also help avoid repeated hospital stays - it is estimated that a million people were readmitted to hospital as an emergency within 30 days of discharge in 2012-13, costing the NHS £2.4bn.
In August this year more than 5,000 people experienced delays in their discharge from hospital, up from 3,961 in 2012. In September, figures suggested almost a third of hospital discharge delays were due to social care issues.
The new guideline calls for hospitals to appoint a single person responsible for co-ordinating an individual’s discharge.
It says pressure on beds should not result in any unplanned or uncoordinated discharges, and commissioners of health and social care services should develop a multi-agency plan to address pressures on services, including bed shortages.
The guidance recommends health and social care practitioners working together more closely to help alleviate pressure on local services and provide seamless support when people go home.
Professor Gillian Leng, deputy chief executive and director of health and social care for NICE, said: 'A smooth and timely transition from hospital back to their home environment – whether that’s their own home or a care home – has a positive effect on a person’s wellbeing and can speed up their recovery.
'It should also help ease the pressure on hospitals and avoid people becoming caught in the ‘revolving door of care’ – when they are readmitted because they’re not getting the right support at home.'
