Staff at Royal Bolton Hospital have unveiled a new plan to help patients get home sooner and to free up beds.

The scheme, dubbed Early Supported Discharge, is aimed at patients whose condition is deemed to be improving and who medics believe can safely continue their recovery at home.

Up to 22 GPs around Bolton are now signed up to the scheme, which is expected to benefit between five and ten patients each week, according to Bolton NHS Foundation Trust.

Divisional director of operations and performance Claire McPeake said: “We know that patients often recover quicker at home, surrounded by their home comforts and in a familiar place.

“This new scheme is vital to their recovery while still receiving the supportive care they need.”

This comes amid continuing efforts to free up space at the hospital, with more than 100 people having bee found to have been taking up beds ‘unnecessarily’ in October.

The scheme aims to free up more space at Royal Bolton Hospital

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s most recent board meeting heard that 130 patients were at the hospital with ‘no criteria to reside’, meaning they no longer require hospital services, but still remain there, with 35,000 others stuck on waiting lists.

This equated to an estimated 931 days of delays, with the new Early Supported Discharge scheme just one way that the Trust is hoping to address this problem.

Patients who will qualify will include people recovering from infection with improving tests, people with electrolyte imbalance who require follow-up tests and people with improving kidney injuries

The Trust says that once they are home each patient will be reviewed by a doctor or a nurse from their local surgery within 48 hours to ensure they are safely recovering.

Any patients who have started new medication while in hospital will also be given a supply to take home as part of the scheme.

Medics believe that recovering at home, for those who are able, can also be better for their health.

This is because prolonged stays in hospital can result in increased risk of falls due to muscle weakness and increased confusion or disorientation.

Similarly, long stays in a hospital bed can leave patients with constipation or incontinence, decreased appetite or poor digestion and in some cases increased risk of further infection.

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Ms McPeake said: “The benefits of recovering at home are clear for patients, with safety nets in place, and other patients who are waiting for a hospital bed will benefit from the space created.

“We’re looking forward to how this improves patient experience and working closely with our GP partners to help our community.”

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