Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take with community care providers to help reduce hospital discharge waiting times.

We will tackle delayed discharges by developing local partnerships between the National Health Service and social care, and making sure people get the right support to return home.

Every acute hospital trust has access to a care transfer hub. These hubs bring together professionals across health, social care and other partners, including community providers, to manage discharges for people with more complex needs.

We have published Neighbourhood Health Guidelines to help local health and care systems progress neighbourhood health in 2025/26. Integrated intermediate care supports hospital discharge and is a core component that we are asking systems to focus on this year. Close partnership working between adult social care, the NHS and other community partners is vital to the successful delivery of intermediate care.