Delayed discharges from hospital
What are delayed discharges?
Many patients are ready to leave the hospital each month but can’t because the services they need afterwards are unavailable, such as social care, home care, or a space in a residential home. While they wait, new patients cannot find a bed, so effectively, bed days are lost.
3 Key points
- The most recent figures from January 2025 show that the number of delayed discharges has remained around 14,000 weekly for much of the month. Since July 2022, the number of patients experiencing this issue has fluctuated between 12,000 and 13,000. In December 2024, 86.7% of patients were discharged on time, with 13.3% delayed, resulting in 272,283 bed days lost in hospitals across England.
- Delayed patient discharge has significant adverse effects on multiple areas of the healthcare system, including increased crowding in A&E, longer ambulance handover times, and a shortage of beds for elective care. Unnecessarily prolonged hospital stays harm patient health, mental and emotional well-being, and independence.
- Recent governments have prioritised reducing the number of patients in this situation, and integrated care boards (ICBs) have aimed towards achieving this goal. However, according to one 2024 analysis, promised funding was not delivered. Fundamental capacity issues in health and social care settings continue to hinder progress. MORE>>
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