More hospital patients are returning home as soon as they are well thanks to a Transfer of Care Hub in Oxfordshire.

The hub, established in January 2023, is run by staff from Oxford University Hospitals (OUH), Oxfordshire County Council, and community services.

They work together to ensure patients are discharged quickly and safely, with the right support in place.

Since its inception, the hub has helped to reduce the number of people in hospital beds waiting to go home or into community care.

The figure has dropped to fewer than 90 a day, from a peak of 135 in 2022, with a recent low of 59.

The percentage of people returning directly home from hospital has also increased from 90 per cent in 2022 to just under 93 per cent in 2024.

The average length of time people wait to leave hospital has decreased from 10 days, in September 2022, to six days, in September 2024.

Tamsin Cater, head of the Transfer of Care Hub at OUH, said: "We know that discharging patients as soon as they are medically fit to go home greatly improves their health outcomes.

"That is why we have been working so hard with our partner organisations to reduce the length of stay for our patients who no longer need to be in hospital, and prevent any delays in them returning home or back into the community.

"This is especially important as we move through winter when there is increased illness in the community and more demand for hospital beds."

The hub is part of a system-wide approach, including the Discharge to Assess (D2A) programme, aimed at getting people home from hospital safely and quickly.

Sally Steele, head of hospitals for Oxfordshire County Council, said: "By working with health and social care partners, as well as organisations from the community and voluntary sector, we are supporting people to head home from hospital quickly and safely.

"Between January and November this year we discharged 4,486 people under D2A across the county of Oxfordshire, and we’re supporting even more people to live well, at home, for longer."

Felicity Taylor Drewe, chief operating officer at OUH, added: "Discharging people as soon as they are fit and well is vital, as prolonged stays in hospital are bad for patients, especially for those who are frail or elderly.

"More often than not, people want to be around their home comforts when they recover, in familiar surroundings with people they know.

"Working with our partners we are together addressing people staying longer than they need to support their onward care."