Recommendation 22

NHS England told us it had instructed the NHS to speed up discharge processes, for example by minimising waits for supporting services such as transport and medications. It was also asking hospitals to monitor patients more closely to assess whether they needed to remain in hospital. We asked whether this approach was working.59 NHS England told us that there were some good examples across the country but accepted that there was more to be done, particularly in terms of reducing variations between different places, and ensuring that patients are discharged from hospital to the right place and at the right time.60 55 Committee of Public Accounts, Discharging older people from acute hospitals, Twelfth Report of Session 2016–17, HC 76, 22 July 2016, page 5, paragraph 3 56 Qq 57, 105; AUEC0001, AUEC0003, AUEC0005, 57 Qq 105, 128 58 Q 57 59 Qq 38, 41 60 Qq 2, 38, 42 14 Access to urgent and emergency care 3 NHS workforce