A service providing acute hospital-level care at home is estimated to have saved the NHS in Scotland more than £50m in 2024-25.

Healthcare Improvement Scotland’s annual report of Hospital at Home services found the service prevented 15,470 people across the country going into hospital last year, delivering the highest number of interventions since the programme began.

Around £16.7m in healthcare costs are thought to have been avoided in 2024-25 because of the lower costs of the service compared to traditional hospital admissions.

Meanwhile, a decrease in healthcare needs of patients in the six months following discharge from Hospital at Home has saved a further £39.4m.

An estimated 672 additional hospital beds and 4,777 care home admissions would have been required over the year if Hospital at Home services did not exist, according to the report.

Belinda Robertson, Associate Director of Improvement at Healthcare Improvement Scotland, said:

“It seems that Hospital at Home is very much here to stay.

“We are finding that more NHS boards are not just increasing the numbers receiving acute hospital care at home, but that their services are maturing, becoming more efficient and being set up in such a way as to ensure they are sustainable. 

“For patients, the benefits of being able to be treated in the comfort and familiarity of their own homes is clear to see and this is set to continue.”

First launched in NHS Lanarkshire in 2011, the Hospital at Home service is now supporting older people and providing acute adult services in most NHS boards.

The service currently provides 525 beds across the country, making it the largest geriatric ward and seventh largest acute ward in Scotland.

Health Secretary Neil Gray said he is “delighted” to see the positive impact of Hospital at Home and looks forward to its further expansion in the months ahead.

The Scottish government aims to create the largest ‘hospital’ in Scotland with its further expansion of the service to 2,000 beds by December 2026, supported by a share of £85m.

Part of the funding will be used to develop pathways in heart disease and respiratory.

A Hospital at Home service for children is also at the very early stages of scoping, according to Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Read more: Frailty services supported with £85m; GPs to lead on frailty in new NHS improvement plan; Chief Medic: ‘Critical connections’ priority; NHS waits pushing patients private; ‘Big leaps’ needed to secure change for disabled people 

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