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More than 1,000 patients in Gwent were able to leave hospital earlier last year thanks to a housing adaptation service.

The ‘Hospital 2 Healthier Home’ (H2HH) initiative, led by the charitable organisation Care and Repair, checks people’s homes for fall risks and makes practical changes to improve properties’ safety.

These can include installing handrails and ramps, as well as simple alterations to homes such as moving beds downstairs.

A new report by the Gwent Regional Partnership Board – which includes the area’s health board and five local authorities – shows the H2HH service “directly helped 1,611 patients leave hospital more quickly” in the past year.

This represents a 16% increase in support from the previous year.

The report, which was presented to a Newport City Council scrutiny committee this week, also shows the project has secured nearly £500,000 in unclaimed benefits for people across Gwent “to support independent living at home”.

Those supported by H2HH last year included a man who was referred to the service following heart and neurological problems.

The team helped with home adaptations and benefits support “which enabled him to be discharged safely and regain independence during his rehabilitation”, and the report noted H2HH provided “not only practical improvements but emotional support”.

Another H2HH recipient praised the “excellent service and workmanship” of its staff.

The Care and Repair team’s work falls under the regional board’s Gwent Adults Strategic Partnership, which prioritises support for older people following hospitalisation, helps them to return home, and combats social isolation.

In the report, Jo Williams, the head of adult services at Caerphilly County Borough Council who also chairs the partnership, said it had made “good, steady progress over the past 12 months”.

The partnership has also “aligned its resources to improve hospital flow, increase prevention of hospital admissions and to support new and innovative ways to address the needs of the population of Gwent”.

The report also noted the work of a pharmacy project by the regional board’s Community Resource Teams, which is also designed to provide home visits for elderly people and help patients be discharged from hospital.

The project has reportedly helped prevent falls “by identifying and reviewing high-risk medicines that can impair balance or cognition”.

Its work last year included helping a 92-year-old patient avoid hospital admission by providing home treatment.

According to the report, the project team “played a crucial role identifying harmful medicine interactions” and supported “complex anti-coagulation decisions”.

For their work, the team’s members won praise from the patient’s daughter for their “professionalism and compassion”, and for providing care at home which “preserved her mother’s wellbeing and spirit”.