Hospital at Home Programme – December 2025 update

Hospital at Home

The Hospital at Home (H@H) is a short-term, targeted intervention providing acute level hospital care in an individual’s home or homely setting.

This programme:

  • has high satisfaction and patient preference across a range of measures.
  • reduces pressure on unscheduled acute care in hospitals by avoiding admissions and accelerating discharge.
  • has consistent evidence of lower costs compared to inpatient care.

What we do

Optimise and expand H@H services:

Support NHS boards/HSCPs to optimise and expand their adult and paediatric H@H services.

Develop new H@H services:

Support remote and rural areas across Scotland to implement new adult services.

National Learning System:

Enable adult and paediatric H@H services to share and learn from each other.

National Infrastructure:

Develop national infrastructure to enable sustainable adult and paediatric H@H services.

Impact so far

3% increase in patients managed by hospital at home services

8,134 patients were managed by H@H services from April to September 2024

8,355 patients were managed by H@H services from April to September 2025

H@H services prevented over 8,350 people spending time in hospital during July to September 2025, relieving pressure from A&E and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

Delivering patient centred care

“The service provided by the hospital at home team is excellent value for money as being treated at home where possible is more beneficial to the patient”
Patient supported by the Scottish Borders’ Hospital at Home Service.

“Being cared for in my own home allowed me to get a night’s sleep without interruption and the chaos experienced in hospital wards at times, and without the worry of cross infections“
Patient supported by Ayrshire and Arran’s Hospital at Home Service

Working with 13 NHS boards across Scotland

We are working with services across 13 NHS boards to create new services, improve the resilience of existing services and evaluate new ways of working.

Growing capacity to be bigger than Western General Hospital

In September 2025, there was the equivalent of 595 beds with an occupancy rate of 80%. This is similar to the size of Western General Hospital and larger than University Hospital Wishaw.

National H@H Programme

Launched in July 2025 and will run until March 2026.

HIS are working with H@H services across Scotland, at individualised levels as selected participants returned ‘Intention to Participate’ form.
 
National H@H Event, Wednesday 29 October
Cabinet Secretary for NHS Recovery, Health and Social Care Neil Gray MSP praised the work of HIS in the H@H programme. This event focused on various H@H pathways, including care for adults and younger people through paediatric services.

Over 150 people were in attendance. This included representation across 13 health boards, members from Scottish Government, the HIS chair, PHS and services providing H@H in England.

Participants found the event ‘insightful’, ‘inspiring’ and ‘informative’.

Service updates

Adult services
Fourteen new Hospital at home pathways are being developed that will expand existing services and introduce H@H to new parts of Scotland, such as Inverness.

Paediatric services
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde are launching their paediatric and neonatal hospital at home service in November 2025. This will offer acute level care for babies and children at home 8am – 8pm, seven days a week.

Supporting service

“Continuing to provide a very valuable practical resource about anything H@H related, Nathan and Latana have been invaluable in their support to our team”
H@H service coordinator, Argyll and Bute HSCP.

Information sources