An additional £3.6m will be given to health boards to develop or expand their Hospital at Home services, as the Scottish government looks to reduce hospital admissions from the elderly.

Funding for the service, which allows people to receive acute care in their own homes, now totals £8.1m since 2020.

Humza Yousaf, Scotland’s Health Minister, says he wants to see Hospital at Home service capacity doubled by the end of the year to free up more hospital beds:

“Hospital at Home is one of the many ways we are providing more care in the community and reducing pressure on hospitals. From the success of the scheme so far, we can see that there is a real benefit to treating people at home where possible.

“We know that frail patients tend to occupy hospital beds for a longer period of time and that is why we are expanding the scheme.”

He added that money will be available to all health boards to “either develop or expand their services with the aim of doubling the capacity of Hospital at Home by the end of this year”.

Older people and organisations that support them have told the Scottish government that Hospital at Home is working well in the 20 Health and Social Care Partnerships where it is available.

In early engagement for a proposed integrated health and care strategy for older people, Ministers heard that the service allows people to avoid the anxiety associated with attending hospital appointments.

Treatments and tests that otherwise would require a hospital admission or appointment, such as an oxygen supply or intravenous drip, can be carried out in people’s homes under the care of a consultant under the model.

In its consultation for the strategy which closes next month, the Scottish government says it will “build upon our Hospital at Home and Care at Home services to ensure that they are available throughout Scotland. Hospital care should only occur when necessary.”

Scotland’s first Hospital at Home service launched for older people in NHS Lanarkshire in 2011, and has now seen more than 20,000 patients.

Claire Ritchie, an AHP Rehabilitation Consultant for Older People at NHS Lanarkshire when the service was under development, said the pandemic has opened clinical staff’s minds to more creative solutions as services restart, increasing support for Hospital at Home.

Ms Ritchie said she hoped every NHS board will offer a Hospital at Home service and that it will be used for more conditions, such as respiratory problems, oncology, renal and heart failure.

Read more: Hospital at home effective alternative to admission; Plans to improve older people’s health moves ahead; Centre to support ageing population

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