Delayed discharge

£100 million funding in the 2025-26 Budget to tackle delayed discharge will make Hospital at Home the ‘biggest hospital in the country’, if approved by Parliament

The service, which offers a safe alternative to admission to an acute hospital, will grow to 2,000 beds by December 2026, alleviating pressure on health and social care settings.

The money will also ensure all A&E departments in Scotland have frailty units directly linked to community care settings, with an increased focus on collaborative working to identify ways to improve patient experience.

It is part of an overall £200 million package to clear the majority of new outpatient and treatment time patient waits and renew the NHS.

Social Care Minister Maree Todd visited Queen Margaret Hospital in Dunfermline to outline a package of measures to reduce delayed discharge and to learn about other services that can be replicated across Scotland, such as Discharge to Assess that has been successful in Fife.

Ms Todd said:

“Reducing delayed discharges is a key priority for the Scottish Government and the Budget we published last week will throw the weight of the government behind NHS improvement.

“More than 96% of all hospital discharges happen without delay but we are working with local health partners and local government to find solutions for those that don’t and address the variation we are seeing across Scotland. Our Budget for 2025-26, if approved by Parliament, will provide £200 million to help clear waiting list backlogs, improve capacity and remove blockages that keep some patients in hospital longer than necessary.

“Once someone has been assessed as well enough to be discharged from hospital, the best place for them to be is at home, supported by a bespoke care package. This can be delivered by services for older people such as Hospital at Home, and evidence shows that those benefitting from it are more likely to avoid hospital or care home stays for up to six months after an acute illness.

“We want to expand that service to make it the ‘biggest hospital in Scotland’, providing the very best care, in the comfort of a patient’s own home or home-like setting.

“We have a plan to renew our NHS and the Budget’s record funding for the health service will ensure that 150,000 extra patients are treated, deliver additional support for GPs, and invest in new hospitals at Belford and Monklands.

“We want to improve our NHS, but to do that Parliament must approve our Budget Bill to unlock investment to drive long-term and lasting improvements – and the healthier population that we all want to see. The NHS needs Parliament to unite behind this Budget.”

Background

• As part of a record £21 billion investment in health and social care, the draft Scottish Budget for 2025-26, includes more than £2 billion for social care and integration, exceeding our target to increase funding by 25% by over £350 million
• Hospital at Home it was the equivalent eighth largest hospital for older people emergency inpatients, according to recent figures from Health Improvement Scotland.
• The Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow is currently the biggest hospital for bed capacity in Scotland, with Public Health Scotland data in November showing it had, on average, 1,581 staffed beds from April to June 2024.
• Discharge to Assess forms part of the best practice approaches that we want all local areas to adopt. The British Red Cross-run Discharge to Assess initiative in Fife an innovative example of how partnership working can alleviate pressures on acute settings.