WIREDGOV

A new digital portal is being introduced by the NHS & councils which allows health & social care staff to see how many vacancies there are in local care homes.

This saves hours of time phoning around to check availability and helping people to get the right care or return home as quickly as possible.  In 2018, around a quarter of a million hospital bed days in England were taken up by people who were medically fit enough to be discharged, but who faced delays in an appropriate care home being found that could meet their recovery needs.

The NHS, working with councils, reduced the number of lost bed days by 20% between 2017 and last year, and making the new tool – the Capacity Tracker – more widely available, is one of a number of measures being taken to reduce unnecessary delays leaving hospital still further.