Patients ready to be discharged from mental health hospitals were delayed by almost 10,000 days in September because of care home availability waits, a new report has suggested.
Analysis by the National Housing Federation has explored the scale of delayed discharges experienced by patients in mental health inpatient settings in England and warned of the impact this has had on health outcomes and in preventing new admissions.
Drawing on data from NHS England the report suggested a lack of supported housing and suitable homes for people to move into when they are ready to leave hospital was a significant factor preventing discharge.
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‘Longer hospital stays can be detrimental to recovery and people’s health. This creates more strain on oversubscribed NHS waiting lists, preventing people from accessing treatment that they need,’ it said.
In September 2024, there were 5,334 ‘delayed discharge days’ in mental health inpatient settings because of patients waiting for a placement in a care home with nursing, and 4,314 because of those waiting for a space in a care home without nursing – a combined total of 9,648.
Some 2,218 discharge delay days occurred because of a wait for further community or mental health NHS services, and 2,668 because of a wait for a care package to begin.
But the top reason that accounted for delays in September 2024 was because of those awaiting supported accommodation, the report found.
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Chief executive of Care England Professor Martin Green said it was vital that a strategy was put in place to sustain ‘good quality’ residential and nursing provision.
‘The neglect of social care by successive governments is now felt by people who want to move out of acute hospitals into community settings,’ he said.
‘Until the government has a long-term strategy to develop and sustain good quality residential and nursing provision, we will constantly see people unable to leave hospital and unable to get the right support within the community.’
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Earlier this month, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned that ‘urgent’ investment in community nursing was needed to fix the corridor care crisis facing hospitals across the country.
Previously, Care England said it was a ‘planning, funding and coordination’ issue within the social care sector that was contributing to increased corridor care and NHS delays.
