A council pilot project that aims to reduce hospital “bed blocking” in Mansfield and Ashfield has been given a glowing commendation in a new report.

Since 2014, the ASSIST Hospital Discharge Scheme, which has been running at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton, helps patients to leave hospital by finding accommodation that was suitable for their ongoing needs.

A report by Nottingham Trent University and Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group said the scheme saves the NHS £1.371m a year by preventing bed blocking and has recommended there are good financial reasons, as well as clinical and care reasons, for the project to continue.

The scheme is run by Mansfield District Council in collaboration with Nottinghamshire County Council social services and the NHS.

Social workers from the county council identify patients who have housing issues that are preventing their discharge from hospital. ASSIST officers from the district council then work to find a solution.

The solutions could be making adaptations to patients’ homes or mean that patients move into temporary supported council housing while a more permanent housing solution is found.

The study said the annual cost of running the scheme was £233,520 but the savings to the NHS were £1.371m annually.

The scheme saved an average of 4.5 bed days per patient helped – a saving of £936 per patient. Between July 2015 and April 2016, the scheme helped 1,127 patients.

The cost of the scheme has so far been funded by the Mid Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group and additional in-kind contributions have been made by the district council..

Portfolio holder for housing at the district council, Coun Barry Answer, said: “This is a marvellous scheme so we hope there will be funding that enables it to continue.

“It has been saving the NHS a huge amount of money. But it has also made a real difference to the lives of hundreds of patients at a vulnerable time in their lives – and that is something you cannot put a price on.”