Dorset slashes hospital discharge delays with Future Care programme
Lengthy hospital stays for patients who are fit to leave have reduced from over 10 days in some cases to now just a week
Hospital discharge times for fit to leave patients are improving across Dorset, cutting extended stays by several days.
Lengthy hospital stays - stretching over 10 days in some cases - have now been reduced to around seven, while for patients with more complex needs, average delays have dropped from 30 to 20 days.
It comes following a coordinated push by health and care services under a programme known as Future Care.
The improvements include smarter partnership working and the use of new digital tools and apps to give patients a better and faster experience.
The success of Future Care was presented this week to Dorset’s Health and Wellbeing Board, where councillors praised frontline staff in health, social services, and social care for “embracing change” to deliver real benefits to patients.
At Blandford Hospital, one patient who had remained in hospital for more than 100 days beyond the point of medical clearance has now returned home, thanks to the coordinated efforts of four teams.
Funded mainly by NHS Dorset, the £9 million programme is expected to yield £36 million in benefits by 2029/30.
Patricia Miller, vice-chair of the board, emphasised the human impact of the initiative. “This programme is about making sure that as many as possible who go through our service have a really, really positive experience,” she said.
Chair Cllr Steve Robinson added: “This is the way it should be—different agencies coming together for the benefit of the patient, putting aside titles and asking, ‘what is best for this person?’”