In October 2021, the Housing Brokerage Service (HBS) started working with the Victorian Department of Health and Melbourne health services to support people with disability to discharge from hospital into housing that meets their needs and preferences.
Building on this work, the HBS began a similar project in February this year with Wellbeing SA and selected South Australian Local Health Networks.
These projects come at a time when COVID-related demand for hospital beds has put significant pressure on already stretched health systems, and where vulnerable patients who are medically ready to discharge may be more at risk while remaining in the hospital system.
Each of these projects is supporting eligible patients to quickly move into appropriate transitional housing at the same time as working intensively with the individuals and their supports to identify, choose and move into long-term housing that matches their needs and preferences.
“These projects are providing an opportunity to test a rapid discharge response at scale in an environment where uncertainty over short-term funding for transitional housing has been removed,” said John Koerber, the Summer Foundation’s Social Enterprise Lead. “At the same time we are helping up to 160 people with disability who have become stuck in hospital.”
The Summer Foundation acknowledges the support of the Victorian and South Australia Governments.