Medequip reports successfully supporting over 100,000 NHS hospital discharges each year
Community equipment service (CES) provider Medequip has reported successfully supporting over 100,000 discharges each year from NHS hospitals across the country.
Facilitating hospital discharges makes a vital contribution to the NHS and to the health of individual patients. The Health Foundation states that: “Patients who stay in hospital when they are ready to be discharged are at higher risk of hospital-acquired infections and of losing mobility and independence. Delays in discharging patients also impact on the availability of hospital beds, leading to delays in ambulance handovers and in admitting patients from A&E.”
The Urgent and emergency care recovery plan published by NHS England on 30 January 2023 has resulted in the accurate availability of statistics based around the time from a patient’s discharge-ready date to their actual date of discharge.
On 30 June 2024, Type 1 Trusts across England reported that there were 12,266 patients remaining in hospital who “no longer meet the criteria to reside”. Medequip says this illustrates the importance of its work.
There are many and complex causes for delayed hospital discharges, says Medequip, ranging from patients waiting for social care services through to the wider pressures on the health and social care system, with hospital bed occupancy increasing to above 95 percent among adult general and acute beds, well above recommended levels.
Medequip states that it continues to play a significant role in freeing up hospital beds for acute cases by combining high levels of stock availability with the systems in place to provide same-day delivery.
Medequip recently announced that its depots have been working closely with fire service prevention teams to provide awareness training to its technicians visiting people’s homes, so they can fully understand what equipment may be found in the home environment.
