Hospital Discharge
This section revokes the procedural requirements in the Care Act 2014 which require local authorities to carry out social care needs assessments, in relevant circumstances, before a patient is discharged from hospital. It does not change existing legal obligations on NHS bodies to meet health needs, and local authorities are still required to assess and meet people’s needs for adult social care.
	This section introduces flexibility for local areas to adopt the discharge model that best meets local needs, including an approach known in England as "discharge to assess" – a model which allows individuals to recover in an environment that is familiar to them, while they receive care and reablement support in the community. Individuals are then assessed at a point of recovery, where it is possible to make an accurate evaluation of their long-term needs.
	Since the Care Act 2014 came into force, the requirement to carry out assessments before discharge has resulted in some individuals experiencing delayed hospital discharge as they wait for their assessment to be carried out, meaning the appropriate transfer of care cannot take place when a patient is ready to leave a hospital. Delayed discharges can result in poorer patient outcomes, such as loss of independence or functional decline such as muscle deterioration in patients who are elderly or have dementia; additional expense to the NHS as patients occupy beds without a clinical need; pressure on hospital beds so it is harder to give in-patients the healthcare they may need; and more complex or higher levels of care on discharge due to the loss of function described above.
	Discharging patients as soon as they no longer meet the criteria to reside in hospital – and therefore no longer need acute hospital care – is increasingly recognised as the most effective way to support patient outcomes.
	This section also introduces a new duty for trusts and foundation trusts to, where appropriate, involve carers at the earliest opportunity in discharge planning for adult patients who are likely to need care and support after their hospital discharge. The section states that carers should be involved as soon as it is feasible after the trust begins making any plans relating to the patient’s discharge. This section defines a carer as an individual who provides or intends to provide care for an adult, otherwise than by virtue of a contract or as voluntary work. It applies to carers of all ages, including young carers.