Thousands of homeless patients have been discharged from NHS hospitals directly back to the streets in the last five years. Despite some being in recovery from major surgery and mental health crisis.
Experts have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis in England after patients leave the hospital with no where to go, it has rose by nearly a third between 2014 and 2018. Thousands of homeless patients were readmitted to hospital within six months according to figures.
Official NHS England guidance aimed at freeing up beds was clarified in November to allow hospital to discharge homeless patients to streets if they are not judged to be a priority for housing.
Dr Nigel Hewett, the medical director of Pathway, a healthcare charity that helps NHS trusts integrate care for homeless people into their services, said: “Hospitals don’t generally want to discharge people to the streets, but often lack the skills and contacts to negotiate the system, which expects you to prove that you are habitually resident, locally connected, vulnerable and priority need.
“The Homelessness Reduction Act [2017] imposes a new duty to refer homeless people in hospitals. But the bare minimum would be to email a person’s details to the local housing department. We believe that there should be a duty [for local authorities and NHS hospitals] to collaborate.”
Data from 89 NHS trusts in England found the number of discharges from hospital of people with no fixed home rose by 29.8% from 6,748 in 2014 to 8,758 in 2018.
Jonathan Ashworth, the shadow health and social care secretary, said: “These are really quite heartbreaking figures revealing something shameful about our society today after years of austerity. There is clearly more to be done to ensure hospitals are better coordinated with local council housing departments when discharging patients.”
Stephen Robertson, the chief executive of the Big Issue Foundation, said: “This is a sign of increasing demand and decreasing resources, and it is creating a humanitarian issue, which in the worst-case scenario is producing people living and dying on the streets of their country.”
After NHS England was provided with the figures and asked about the updated discharge guidance, a spokesperson said: “The NHS is caring for the growing number of homeless people in an increasingly tailored way, including investing in more proactive outreach and mental health support for rough sleepers, and our long-term plan commits local health groups to taking more action along with local partners to tackle health inequalities facing people in their areas.
“Staying in hospital for longer than you medically need to presents a real risk to your health, but NHS staff work hard to make sure that wherever possible when someone has completed treatment, any other services that they may need are in place before they are discharged.”
A government spokesperson said: “Tackling homelessness will only be solved if partners work together effectively. The law now requires councils to provide early support for those at risk of being left with nowhere left to go and for key parts of the NHS to refer people who are homeless to councils.”
