Hospitals 'fail homeless people'

The number of homeless people has been declining in recent years

The NHS is failing homeless people by not offering the support they need when released from hospital, the Tories say.

Figures obtained by shadow housing minister Grant Shapps showed the number of homeless people treated in hospital had risen by 28% in four years.

He said the underlying cause of the rise was the fact the NHS was not liaising with local services, meaning the patients ended up back in hospital.

The government argues that progress was being made with the problem.

Hospitals are meant to alert local housing and health services when patients are discharged.

The NHS is under such pressure to get people out quickly that it does not have the time to offer the support to homeless people they need Grant Shapps, shadow housing spokesman

Homeless people are considered to be particularly vulnerable because of the high rates of drug use and mental health problems.

The Tories asked England's 171 hospital trusts how many people with no fixed abode they had admitted from 2003 to 2007.

This covers people living in temporary accommodation, such as hostels, and rough sleepers.

Responses from 103 trusts showed that 6,358 people with no fixed abode were admitted in 2007, compared to 4,984 in 2003.

This comes at a time when the number of homeless people is falling, according to official figures.

Mr Shapps said: "The NHS is under such pressure to get people out quickly that it does not have the time to offer the support to homeless people they need.

"This target culture means they are highly likely to develop further health problems and end back in hospital.

"It is a vicious circle."

Drain

Jeremy Swain, chief executive of the Thames Reach homelessness charity, said there were examples of good practice, but added too many hospitals were not making a "serious effort".

"Sending people back to the street is morally unacceptable and also creates an expensive, unnecessary drain on precious NHS resources."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Everybody is entitled to the best possible healthcare on the NHS, including homeless people.

"We are making progress on addressing the needs of homeless people."

He added homeless people were getting better access to services, particularly with the introduction of walk-in centres, while outreach work was being done in the community to ensure support was in place.