Hospital to home: can other countries show us the way?

Moving care ‘from hospital to home’ is one of the three major shifts the government has chosen as priorities to turn the NHS around. It carries the promise of better experience for patients and less demand on the health service’s strained budgets. But successive health service leaders and governments with the same intentions have struggled to make this a reality, with more money going into hospital, hope for cash savings frustrated, and social care reform repeatedly delayed.

This half-day policy event in Westminster brought together selected experts, leaders past and present, and key commentators to debate what it would really take to successfully move care from hospital to the community, and what we can learn from the experience of other health systems. The sessions looked at this through the lens of primary care, social care, and how health systems can decrease reliance on hospitals.

Thea Stein shares her thoughts on the challenges of the shift from hospital to community.

This event was supported by Nuffield Foundation, and sponsored by Optum. 

Watch event sessions

Session 1: Health services that rely less on hospitals

Session 2: The role of general practice in the future NHS

Session 3: How social care reform can succeed