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Wales' 50-day winter challenge shows encouraging signs


January 31, 2025 - 312 views

The 50-day winter challenge to help more people return home from hospital is showing promising results, Health Secretary Jeremy Miles has said.

The challenge was designed to ensure the NHS and local councils worked together to share and learn from the best practice to ensure the right support is available to help people stay well, or to recover at home or in their local community.

Health boards and local authorities used a 10-point action plan to reduce the overall numbers of people who experience discharge delays and to reduce the number of days people were delayed overall.

It targeted the 25% of people with the longest hospital discharge delays and ensured appropriate plans were in place to support their discharge.

The Welsh Government has provided £19m to support the challenge and ensure the learning continues beyond its end.

It is supporting increased reablement and domiciliary care services, helping more people stay well at home.

The latest figures show December was the fourth successive month where the number of hospital discharge delays fell, establishing a downward trend since April 2024 and highlighting the positive impact of the 50-Day challenge. There has been a 14% improvement in delays since March 2024.

The focus on supporting people with the longest discharge delays identified 395 people. More than half – 225 people – were discharged by the end of December. Of the remaining 170 people, 80.5% have agreed discharge plans to either go home or to a care facility.

Some of the biggest reductions have been achieved in waits for joint assessments and in starts for reablement care packages.

Health Secretary Jeremy Miles said:"The initial results are positive, but there is a lot more to do to reduce delayed discharges in hospital and help people stay well at home.

"Health boards and social care partners now need to keep working together to implement the 10 key policies and actions that we know make the biggest difference, in the longer term."

Minister for Children and Social Care Dawn Bowden said: "Reablement can help keep people well in their local community and prevent the need for admission to hospital. It is an important aspect of a more efficient and sustainable health and social care system."