The Integrated Discharge Hub (IDH) brings together health board staff, social workers and charities as one team.

It streamlines the process for safe and supported discharge, helping patients to go home sooner and freeing up beds for those patients who need to be admitted to hospital.

The hub’s Multi-Agency Triage Team (MATT) make sure the right services are in place to support patients, most of which are frail and elderly, to return home or to go to a placement once their treatment has finished.

Staying in hospital too long can cause deconditioning in patients, which is avoidable harm such as muscle wastage or confusion caused by a lack of activity and routine.

This can result in even longer hospital stays and patients may lose the independence they had, such as their ability to walk unaided or take themselves to the toilet.

They also face a greater risk of infection and illness from prolonged stays.

The IDH’s work, which now spans the Morriston, Singleton and Neath Port Talbot sites, includes arranging hospital at home services, social care and practical help such as shopping and getting a key safe fitted to make discharge more efficient. They can also step in to prevent hospital admissions.