Bridgend Care & Repair Celebrates Supporting 10,000 Patients 31.10.2022

Bridgend County Care & Repair has reached the remarkable milestone of receiving its 10,000th referral, as it helps patients to be discharged safely and quickly from the Princess of Wales Hospital in Bridgend.

The charity’s Hospital to Home service carries out home safety interventions, such as minor adaptations, repairs, and provision of additional heating, to help facilitate the timely and safe discharge of older people from hospital.

Working in partnership with hospital staff the service receives over 1,500 referrals a year and helps reduce hospital waiting times by saving some 8,000 bed days each year.

To celebrate its achievements, the Hospital to Home service held an event at the Princess of Wales Hospital, which was attended by Huw Irranca-Davies MS, Sarah Murphy MS, and Sarah James the Deputy Director of Operations at Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Rena Sweeney, Agency Director for Bridgend County Care and Repair said:

“We are delighted to reach this significant milestone, but I must pay tribute to the sheer hard work and dedication of the staff working out of the service. Since it was piloted in 2014, the service has achieved so much, and the model set up in Bridgend has now been replicated by Care & Repair Cymru in hospitals across Wales”.

Meinir Woodgates, Service Manager for the Hospital to Home Service said:

“The speed and volume of home improvements completed has meant that patients referred to the service stay in hospital on average six days less. The service also helps to reduce the number of patients being readmitted to hospital.”

Chris Jones, Chief Executive of Care & Repair Cymru, said:

“Hospital to Home is the solution to a problem. The service works with hospital staff, patients and their families to identify and resolve housing issues that would otherwise prevent a hospital discharge.

“It is a testimony to the dedication of Bridgend County Care & Repair staff that the Hospital to Home service has grown rapidly from small seeds to a substantial Wales-wide service. This growth would not have been possible without the co-productive instinct of the NHS’s frontline staff, as well as senior colleagues across health services, who recognised the potential of this offer.”

Nationally, the service is now known as Hospital to a Healthier Home and operates out of 17 hospitals. To find out more about Hospital to a Healthier Home and what it has achieved, please visit: www.careandrepair.org.uk/hospital

If you are over 60 years old and need adaptations in your home, Bridgend County Care & Repair can help you. Phone us on 01656 646755.