Scottish hospitals discharging patients to ‘no fixed abode’ at least once per day, research finds

Under the law, public services including hospitals will need to proactively inquire about a person’s housing situation and take steps to prevent them becoming homeless.

Details on how this will work are due to be set out in secondary legislation.

Mr Bushnell said the duties could be a “vital factor” in changing the statistics, by making sure local housing authorities are informed at an early stage if someone is at risk of or experiencing homelessness.

But he admitted that this will not necessarily be a silver bullet, citing the performance of a similar ‘duty to refer’ introduced in England eight years ago.

Mr Bushnell wrote: “England has a similar, albeit weaker, duty for public authorities such as hospitals to refer to local authorities regarding housing, however research has shown that there are various issues affecting hospitals’ ability to avoid discharging to the streets.

“This reinforces the idea that careful monitoring and documenting of the ‘ask and act’ duties, including a robust and careful implementation process, is vital.”

Helen Murdoch, the Salvation Army’s homelessness lead for Scotland, said: “No one should leave hospital without somewhere safe to go. Discharging someone when they have no secure accommodation doesn’t only put them at risk of sleeping rough, it puts their health and recovery in jeopardy. 

“When people have nowhere safe to stay they are far more likely to relapse, become unwell or end up back in hospital.

“We would like to see the ‘ask and act’ requirement in the new Housing Bill fully implemented as soon as possible.”

The charity also found that, in general, hospital discharges in Scotland are more likely than not to take place outside of the standard 9am to 5pm working hours, and around a fifth of patients leave at weekends.

Mr Bushnell stressed the importance of timing in the research, because much statutory support operates only within weekday working hours.

He added: “While there is some emergency out-of-hours provision available, we know from our work in communities that accessing official support outsides of these hours, whether that is [for] housing or addiction, can be extremely difficult.”