Care and NHS services in Bracknell are missing targets for ensuring patients can stay at home after being discharged, council documents have revealed.

Officials say stretched NHS services and an increase in patients with complex needs are two of the challenges and obstacles they face.

Services fell behind on discharging people to their homes, keeping them there after discharge, and limiting the number of people permanently admitted to residential care homes. That’s according to figures reported to Bracknell Forest Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board.

The report says Bracknell-based services were “not on track” to hit their target of 93 percent of patients discharged to their normal place of residence after acute hospital care—managing 90.5 percent instead.

Mitigating factors that made hitting that target difficult include 'an increase in people discharged with complex health issues'.

The report also says there was an increase in people requiring additional support after being discharged from hospital.

Other factors included “increased evidence of hoarding”—where a person’s home is overcrowded with items or clutter—“making discharge to normal place of residence more difficult.”

The report also points to families wanting “wrap around care for their loved one” after discharge.

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There was a similar shortfall for the “reablement” target—the proportion of people aged 65 or older who were still at home 91 days after being discharged from hospital. The report says health services did not meet the target of 87.5 percent—falling just short at 85.3 percent.

It said care services had received “more people that are not fit enough to be re-abled and are requiring more hands-on care whilst they become well enough.”

Targets for limiting the number of people permanently admitted to care homes were also missed. The report says the services “had an aim” of admitting no more than 110 people to permanent residential care—but had to place 115 people instead.

Setting out a plan for the coming year, Bracknell Forest Council documents say the number of people aged 65 and over in the area had increased by 32.2 percent between 2011 and 2021. They say this figure “gives an indication of the increase in demand on our services we are experiencing.”

The document adds that “an increase in people with complex needs, a shortage of nursing staff and other workforce challenges,” added additional pressures.

And it said acute care units serving Bracknell were in “black alert”—indicating that they’re under severe pressure—for prolonged periods of time.

The targets are part of the Better Care Fund programme, which combines budgets for NHS and council care services and measures their performance against nationally-set  metrics.

Bracknell Forest Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board is set to discuss the report next Tuesday, June 6. Bracknell Forest Council has been approached for comment.