HOSPITALS in Gwent have been under pressure for some time, but one project is aiming to free up beds by helping patients to be able to be discharged quickly.

The Hospital to a Healthier Home project supports around 1,000 patients a year, and says around 25,000 bed days have been saved in hospitals across Wales.

The project has said they have saved around 4,000 bed days in Royal Gwent Hospital, Nevill Hall Hospital, Grange University Hospital, and Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr.

Experts say hospital delays are made worse by not efficiently discharging patients, so this project could be important to improving waiting times in the area.

The Hospital to a Healthier Home project is run by charity Care and Repair Cymru, which carries out home repairs and adaptations so that older patients are able to return home from hospital sooner.

Checks are carried out in people's homes before they are discharged to highlight any potential issues.

Aneurin Bevan University Health Board has awarded the project with another year of funding.

Project manager, Faye Patton, said: "We are delighted to have received local funding for this service.

"This means our specialist Hospital to a Healthier Home caseworkers can continue their excellent work making sure older people can leave hospital safely and speedily into homes that are ready for their continued recovery.

"The service has grown significantly in the last few years, especially throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, when we expanded the service with additional caseworkers and embedded the service in new hospitals.

"We are very pleased that Health Boards recognise the positive impact the service has in helping them take a home first approach."

An example of the work done would be when the project helped a 77-year-old woman who had suffered a stroke.

Caseworkers were tasked with providing an additional electrical socket in her lounge for a hospital bed, but a check showed that the bed would block the lounge door.

A contractor was soon hired to remove the door and replace it with a heavy curtain instead.

Vicky McGrath, Hospital to a Healthier Home caseworker at Nevill Hall, said: "It is so important to continue to fund this project as it has such a huge impact on the clients lives in allowing them to return home sooner to an environment that they feel comfortable with.

"The knock-on effect of our role means the hospital can free up any beds far sooner allowing them to admit patients that need to be there, this can only help towards the cost and efficient running of the hospitals."

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The project also helps patients to claim the benefits they are entitled to and last year saw more than 400 successful benefit claims which got £1.7 million additional income for patients.

Demand for the project has only increased in recent year as the outbreak of Covid saw the need to get patients out of hospitals as quickly as possible.

Care and Repair Cymru chief officer, Chris Jones, said: "In the early stages there was a big push, rightly, to empty hospitals and create bed spaces.

"So, our Hospital to a Healthier Home service got really busy, albeit our caseworkers were remote [working].

"What we've seen over a couple of years is that demand has increased."

To find out if the Hospital to a Healthier Home project operates in your area, click here.