What did the partnership do? 

The PSC's Transformation team supported Hull and East Riding of Yorkshire with: 

• Co-producing a new integrated discharge model, with over 150 patients and carers engaged through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, and workshops attended by 40 professionals from eight organisations thinking in organisationally agnostic ways about how the healthcare system as a whole could deliver the best possible outcomes for patients. 
• The introduction of innovative practices generated by the partnership, including: a new discharge tracking system (Optica), with shared access for NHS and local authority partners to ensure one shared version of the truth; a co-located integrated discharge hub at Hull Royal Infirmary, bringing together representatives from Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, City Health Care Partnership, East Riding and Hull City Councils, as well as voluntary sector organisations, enabling faster and better discharge planning in hospital; and an enhanced voluntary sector discharge offer, consisting of three new support services provided by four different organisations, integrated into hospital through new voluntary sector discharge co-ordinator roles. 
• Encouraging other organisations to adopt best practice generated from the programme, including sharing learnings with other places within the Humber and North Yorkshire ICS, NHS England’s Intermediate Care, Urgent & Emergency Care and Productivity team, the Discharge Integration Frontrunner Programme through national webinars, and providing practical support and guidance to six other ICSs, including a demand and capacity modelling technique which has been adopted by other systems. 

The Results 

The outcomes of this transformation were significant: 

• Fewer patients delayed in hospital – the number of supported discharge patients delayed in hospital reduced by 60%, exceeding the target reduction of 50%. This reduces the likelihood of deconditioning and promotes better long-term outcomes for patients.   
• Patients spending less time in hospital – the average number of days that a supported discharge patient remains in hospital after the no criteria to reside point reduced by a third for all patients at Hull University Teaching Hospitals Trust, from ~6 days to ~4 days.  
• More patients are accessing ‘recovery first’ intermediate care support – since July 2023, there has been a 102% increase in the number of patients receiving intermediate care support from City Healthcare Partnership, exceeding the target increase of 50%. This means that more patients are having the opportunity to recover and re-able when they leave hospital, promoting long-term independence and resilience. 
• Long-term financial benefit – financial benefit already realised includes over £499k of funding released for voluntary sector services to provide enhanced discharge and intermediate care support, and an estimated £2.6m saving for East Riding of Yorkshire Council through a reduction in spend on long term packages of care. Full delivery of the new discharge and intermediate care model is forecast to deliver ~£12m of annual financial benefit, through a reduction in discharge delays in acute and community settings, as well as a reduction in demand for long term packages of care.   

Stakeholder Impact 

The transformation had a profound impact on healthcare professionals and system leaders. As one ICB Place Director commented: 

"Thank you so much The PSC for all your support - it's been fantastic working with you. I've worked in discharge in Hull & the East Riding for a long time, and we have never got this far before. Your support has been exemplary." 

Learn More 

For more insights on improving discharge processes and intermediate care, we invite you to read our related blog on Looking Beyond Hospital Walls for Discharge Solutions and our Getting Discharge Right roundtable. These articles provide further context on the challenges and opportunities in transforming discharge processes across healthcare systems. 

For more information on how The PSC can transform healthcare processes and improve patient outcomes, please contact us at hello@thepsc.co.uk