Royal Bolton team freeing up beds while supporting patients

A specialist team at Royal Bolton Hospital is helping more than 30 patients return home every day in a bid to reduce delays in hospital discharges and free up beds for those waiting for treatment.

The hospital’s discharge facilitators work with patients from the day they are admitted, arranging support and services needed for them to leave hospital safely once they are well enough to do so.

The role is becoming increasingly important as hospitals across the NHS face ongoing pressures from so-called ‘bed blocking’, where patients remain in hospital despite no longer needing acute medical care because support arrangements outside hospital are not yet in place.

Discharge facilitators work closely with ward staff, social care teams, pharmacists, physiotherapists and community services to ensure patients have everything they need before leaving hospital.

Their work includes arranging care packages, transport, equipment and follow-up support, helping to avoid delays that can keep hospital beds occupied unnecessarily.

According to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust, the team is currently supporting more than 30 people a day to return to the comfort of their home.

Two members of the team, Sharon Kellie and Elaine Jackson, highlight the work that goes on behind the scenes to keep patients moving safely through the hospital system and to ensure these systems run as smoothly as possible.

Ms Kellie said discharge planning begins almost as soon as a patient arrives on a ward.

“We review the patients, identifying who is medically fit for discharge.

“Can they leave that day?

“It’s about asking if not, why not?

“What is holding them up?”

Once patients are ready to leave, many are transferred to the hospital’s discharge lounge, where they can wait for medication, transport or family members while freeing up beds on wards for incoming patients.

Ms Jackson said the facility plays a crucial role in improving patient flow through the hospital.

“We use the discharge lounge to free up beds on the wards.

“We can care for them as we would on the wards while they wait for medications or transport services.”

The team also works to reduce the risk of patients being readmitted by ensuring support is in place when they return home.

One patient, Michael, who is waiting to return home from hospital after a fall, said staff are helping arrange extra support from the discharge lounge because he lives alone.

He said: “I ended up breaking my hip, my femur and crushing my knees.

“I’ve been looking forward to going home after being in hospital for so long, I’ve been missing my home.

“They’ve been asking if I need any help at home – and I stated that I could do with help because of my stability.

“I could do with extra handles and have people coming round to check on me as I live on my own.”

This comes as Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced his plans to prevent bed-blocking and improve social care so fewer people remain in hospital when they do not need to be.

In a major speech on social care on July 29, Mr Burnham said: “How do we deliver a national care service in England that sits alongside the National Health Service, works in a similar way that is highly integrated, and can optimise the journey of a patient?

“For patients leaving home to hospital back as quickly as possible and there’s no delay.

“We also then ask for a principle of home care wherever possible so that we have an approach that supports people where they should be and often where they want to be rather than ending up in a hospital bed.”

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust says the approach not only helps patients recover in the most appropriate setting but also enables beds to be made available more quickly for other people needing hospital treatment.