Hospital discharges improve, hears wellbeing board

Extended hospital stays for patients medically well enough to be discharged are improving, a county's health and wellbeing board has heard.

The use of apps and partnership working have seen delayed stays shorten from more than 10 days to seven in some Dorset hospital settings - and from 30 to 20 days for people with more complex needs, it was told.

A patient at Blandford Hospital, who had been on the wards for 100 days beyond the point she could medically be discharged, was now back home thanks to the efforts of four different teams, the Dorset Council committee was informed.

The board was being updated on the progress of a council programme called Future Care.

Councillors were told much of the success was down to staff in health, social services and social care who had "embraced change" and made the new methods work to the benefit of patients staying in hospital beds longer than they needed to, freeing the beds for more pressing cases.

The programmes across the county are costing £9m, mainly paid for by NHS Dorset.

They are estimated to deliver £36m in benefits up until 2029/2030, councillors heard.

Patricia Miller, vice chair of the board, said: "This programme is about making sure that as many as possible who go through our service have a really, really positive experience and it's also an experience that improves their health outcomes."

Steve Robinson, the board's chair, said the new way of working was the "way it should be, different agencies coming together for the benefit of the patient".

He said it was about "putting aside titles and saying 'what is best for this person?'."

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