Every year, thousands of people in England are discharged from hospital with nowhere safe to go. In 2024/25 alone, there were more than 10,000 instances of people being discharged to the street – an unsafe and deeply inhumane practice that puts lives at risk and drives avoidable readmissions.
Following the Government’s commitment in the National Plan to End Homelessness to end street discharge, this report sets out a clear pathway to implementation. Drawing on years of evidence, frontline expertise and system learning, it highlights how better discharge planning, stronger partnerships between health and housing services, and investment in safe places for recovery can prevent people from leaving hospital into homelessness.
It calls for:
- Effective, multidisciplinary hospital teams and early identification of housing needs to significantly reduce returns to rough sleeping.
- Concerted action to address the critical shortage of specialist intermediate care – safe places where people can recover after leaving hospital.
- Stronger national leadership, clearer accountability, and improved data collection are essential to tracking progress and ensuring accountability. Data is also the cornerstone of better understanding of need and service planning both nationally and locally.