Home Instead launches Hospital-to-Home recovery service amid growing pressure on NHS beds

Image: Maddy Alemayehu (Right) alongside some of her team of Home Instead nurses

New local initiative aims to ease delayed discharges and help older patients recover safely in their own homes

Thousands of hospital beds in England are occupied each day by patients who are well enough to leave, but can’t. A shortage of follow-up care means many remain stuck on wards, even after they’re medically fit to go home.

Home Instead, a Chiswick Calendar Club Card partner, has launched a new nurse led Hospital-to-Home programme offering short-term support for older adults stepping out of hospital.

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The launch comes as NHS England faces sustained pressure from delayed discharges, with recent winter data showing around 13,000 hospital beds a day occupied by patients medically fit to leave but unable to do so due to a lack of follow-up care. That equates to roughly one in seven acute hospital beds nationally, contributing to capacity issues and treatment backlogs.

The Hospital-to-Home service is being delivered locally under the direction of Maddy Alemayehu, a registered nurse and director at Home Instead who leads on specialist care services. It is aimed at people who no longer need hospital treatment but aren’t yet well enough to return home without structured support.

The programme begins before discharge, with a nurse or care manager assessing the home environment and liaising with hospital teams to plan the transition. Once home, clients receive daily visits from trained carers, working to a recovery plan overseen by nurses, physiotherapists and nutritionists.

While the new service is offered privately, Home Instead accepts referrals from hospital discharge teams, GPs or directly from families. As the pressure on NHS capacity continues, services like this may play an increasingly important role, not just in freeing up beds, but in helping people recover where they feel most human, at home.

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The care includes help with meals, medication and mobility, along with health monitoring to identify early signs of problems such as infections or falls. It aims to rebuild the client’s baseline functional ability, or even improve it. Six and twelve week reviews with families help track recovery and plan any ongoing support.

The risks of prolonged hospital stays, particularly for older adults, are well documented. The British Geriatrics Society has highlighted that functional decline can begin within days of admission, with muscle loss, increased risk of infection, confusion and reduced independence all common outcomes.

For families waiting to bring a loved one home, this can be an agonising stage, knowing someone is well enough to leave hospital, but not having the right support in place.

Maddy told The Chiswick Calendar people eat and sleep less well in hospital and they are prone to infections.

A 2018 review in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association found that even short stays can trigger serious deterioration in older patients. More recently, a study published in BMC Health Services Research underscored the value of continuity and personalised home-based care in helping people recover more fully and avoid being re-admitted.

This kind of service may not work for everyone, particularly where needs are complex or long-term, but they hope this will be a step in the right direction for tackling a growing national issue.

Home Instead are a Chiswick Calendar Club Card member, you can see their page here.
They have also contributed a number of informational pieces around care strategies and concerns, which you can find all in one place here.