Last Updated on November 18, 2022
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has published details of how the £500m Discharge Fund will be distributed to help free up hospital pressures and reduce strain on the NHS.
£300m will be given to integrated care boards (ICBs) to improve bed capacity and £200m for local authorities to bolster the social care workforce, increasing capacity to take on more patients from hospitals.
Local authorities and ICBs will work together to agree on spending across their regions, introducing tailored solutions which speed up discharge and benefit patients in their area.
Allocations will be published in due course with payments to be made in the coming weeks, following the announcement of the fund earlier this year. A second tranche of funding will be distributed in January 2023, delivering support across winter.
On tackling the COVID-19 backlogs, the Health and Social Care Secretary, Steve Barclay, emphasised the importance of close working between the DHSC and NHS England to reduce variation and tackle wider recovery challenges.
Looking beyond the immediate challenges of this winter, he reiterated the need to ensure a stronger future for health and care, including investment in NHS buildings.
Helen Whately, Minister of State for Care, said, ‘People should be cared for in the best place for them, but discharge delays mean patients are spending too long in hospital. Our Discharge Fund will get more people cared for in the right place at the right time. We’re asking hospitals and the social care system to work together to help patients and carers too, who often take on a lot of the burden of caring when someone leaves hospital.
Adding, ‘The Discharge Fund will boost the social care workforce and in turn reduce pressures on the NHS and hospital staff, as it frees up beds and helps improve ambulance handover delays.’
For more information about the Discharge Fund, visit the Government website. For insight on Grant allocations for local authorities, visit the Government website.