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Hospital Care at Home: Supporting independent and healthy lives 8 February 2010

Healthcare at Home and Dr Foster have produced a report that estimates a saving to the NHS of over £1 billion by providing more care at home.

Previous estimates have indicated that providing more care at home instead of keeping patients in hospital would be cost-neutral, but this report reveals that at a national level, home-based healthcare for the following four services could represent savings of:

  • £180 - £210m for long-term and other selected ambulatory care sensitive (ACS) conditions
  • £217m - £837m for early supported discharge
  • £46m - £73m for specialised cancer services (specifically, enabling chemotherapy at home)
  • £160m for end-of-life care
  • £540m - £1.2bn for the four services combined.

The costs of providing home-based healthcare to these populations were estimated, based on existing service models and assumptions from NHS Birmingham East and North (NHS BEN), where they are currently piloting the above four services.

Tom Moloney, Chief Executive, Dr Foster said, "The report makes a strong case that significant savings, of over £1 billion pounds, are achievable. This opportunity mustn’t be ignored; especially when the savings can be coupled with improved patient outcomes and satisfaction."

In spite of government initiatives to reverse the trend, the current health system is still facing an increase in hospital demand.  Last year, 8 million patients were cared for in our hospitals, 12.5% of whom were admitted with ACS conditions.  Avoidable emergency admissions are also on the rise, with 491,000 patients admitted through A&E for ACS conditions, at a cost to the NHS of £1bn.

See www.hospital-care-at-home.co.uk for more information and to download your free copy of the report.


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