Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken to reduce the number of delayed discharges from hospital.

The Government is committed to ensuring that all patients are discharged from hospital appropriately with the right care and support in place. The Model Discharge Pathway has been published, to support timely, safe, and clinically led discharge from hospital. The Model Discharge Pathway is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/model-discharge-pathway/

It provides a framework that organisations can use to review and strengthen local discharge arrangements. The publication was developed with clinical and operational leaders and brings together good practice already being delivered across the National Health Service.

Additionally, in February 2026, the Government published guidance setting out new arrangements for the Better Care Fund, requiring NHS integrated care boards and local authorities to pool over £9 billion of funding to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and reduce delayed hospital discharges with more integrated health and social care services.

We are continuing to work with NHS trusts and local authorities to embed best practice in discharge processes. Areas experiencing the most significant challenges with discharge delays and urgent and emergency care performance are receiving targeted support to drive those improvements.