The proposal would deliver a surge of locum doctors during discharge bottlenecks to free up doctors on shift, backed by 24/7 patient transport and 5,000 emergency social and homecare packages a week over the Christmas period.
Liberal Democrat care and carers spokesperson Alison Bennett said: ‘Liberal Democrats are putting forward a bold plan to ensure thousands more patients get home for Christmas. Through round the clock transport, extra social care places and funding for extra locum shifts when they are most needed the Government can and must get them home.'
The cost of delayed discharge has been estimated by The Kings Fund at £395 per bed, per night. Last December, more than 10,000 patients a day remained in hospital who were no longer meeting the criteria to stay, suggesting a cost to the NHS in excess of £122m.
Analysis by The Health Foundation published yesterday showed an 8% year-on-year rise in the number of delayed discharges, equivalent to around 3,800 discharges a month, between July to September 2024 and July to September 2025.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: ‘We started preparing for this winter earlier than ever before - stress testing hospital plans, working closely with care homes and local leaders, ramping up vaccination programmes, and making sure every part of the system is ready to keep patients flowing safely through hospitals.
‘We've issued clear guidance to support faster, safer hospital discharge, and we're joining up NHS and social care through neighbourhood health teams so more people can get the care they need at home.
‘Baroness Casey's Independent Commission will deliver its first recommendations for building a National Care Service next year in 2026 – and in the immediate term we are backing social care by making available a £4 bn funding boost.'
The DHSC said reforms to the Better Care Fund in 2026/27 will ensure consistent joint NHS and local authority funding for hospital discharge.
It said the NHS was working closely with local authority and social care colleagues so that discharge capacity can surge at times of peak demand.
