Housing with Care model could reduce delayed hospital discharges – new independent report

A number of Housing with Care developments across the south and west of Scotland have been praised by a newly published independent report for being highly valued by their tenants, demonstrating high standards of social care and support while assisting people to have a good quality of life in later years and offering good value for money for local authorities.

Commissioned by social landlord Trust Housing Association, the report concludes that Trust’s Housing with Care model of integrated housing and care services for older people could offer an affordable solution to the growing issue of long-term delayed discharges in Scottish hospitals.

Trust Housing Association has been operating as a registered social landlord for over 40 years and today manages more than 100 developments across Scotland, serving around 2,500 customers, with a particular focus on older people.

Trust Housing Association has a growing number of Housing with Care developments which enable elderly tenants to continue to live independently while also receiving anything from less than five hours to more than 25 hours of personal care each week.

Latest official statistics show that more than three quarters of all delayed discharges recorded in Scottish hospitals are for health and social care reasons – and that around 18% of these cases are delayed for more than six weeks. In 2013/14, delayed discharges were estimated to have cost NHS Scotland £114 million.

Trust Housing Association recently commissioned Housing & Support Partnership and Imogen Blood & Associates to carry out an independent evaluation of outcomes in its Housing with Care services. In particular, the evaluation concludes that these services are highly valued by customers and offer value for money and cost savings for local authorities when compared to other long term care options, particularly residential care.

Concluding with the publication of a final report entitled “Housing with Care: Innovative care solutions for living well at home”, the evaluation considered seven Housing with Care developments operated by Trust Housing Association across the south and west of Scotland and comprising more than 250 individual housing units. 71% of tenants covered by the study were aged 75 years or older and 43% were aged 85 years or above.

The final report has been published just over a year since the integration of health and social care in Scotland officially went live on the 1st April 2016.

Over a three year period, the study found that more than 50 tenant admissions to acute hospitals that would have been required had the tenant been living in mainstream housing were avoided as a result of living in a Housing with Care development.

As part of the study, a cost benefit analysis of Housing with Care concluded that, for older people with less than £16,250 in capital and receiving up to approximately 27 hours of funded personal care per week, local authority commissioners would find Housing with Care to be more cost effective than residential care. For older people with capital between £16,250 and £26,250, Housing with Care would be the more cost effective option for those receiving up to around 23 hours of funded personal care per week. For those with capital above £26,250, Housing with Care was more cost effective than residential care for older people receiving up to 12 hours of funded personal care per week.

Commenting on the results of the independent evaluation of its Housing with Care services, Trust Housing Association Chief Executive Rhona McLeod said:

“This report is a real endorsement of the hard work and dedication of our Housing with Care teams across all of our Housing with Care developments. It shows that tenants really value the sense of freedom and personal independence Housing with Care gives them. The cost benefit analysis also presents Housing with Care as a more affordable solution than residential care for local authorities, particularly for older people on lower incomes in receipt of substantial levels of personal care on a weekly basis.

“Whether offered by Trust Housing Association or another registered social landlord, this report also highlights the important role the Housing with Care model can play in helping to tackle the issue of delayed discharges from Scottish hospitals, three quarters of which apparently occur for health and social care reasons. Both by reducing the overall number of tenant admissions to acute hospitals and supporting timely and effective discharge from hospital, Housing with Care is a model that could effectively address the issue of delayed discharges and deliver significant savings for NHS Scotland as a consequence.”