The government will inject £200 million into the NHS to discharge medically fit patients into care homes to free up hospital beds and reduce pressure.
The additional funding will be used to immediately buy short-term care placement so patients can be discharged safely from hospitals into local community settings such as care homes. They will then receive the care they need in such settings before returning home.
There are currently roughly 13,000 people occupying hospital beds in England who are fit enough to be discharged. The extra funding will be placed on top of the £500 million Adult Social Care Discharge Fund which was provided in December to help discharge people more quickly.
