Delayed hospital discharges: total pathway of care delays and total days delayed, April 2023 onwards
Contents
| Data values | Data description | Local health board | local authority of residence | Reason for delay | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Caerphilly | Total | January 2025 |
| 9 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Assessment Issues | July 2023 |
| 9 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Awaiting Social worker allocation | July 2023 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Step down to recover and assess | March 2024 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Awaiting Community Resource capacity | March 2024 |
| 9 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Total | July 2023 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Torfaen | Total | March 2024 |
| 16 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Assessment Issues | July 2024 |
| 16 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Awaiting completion of assessment by social care | July 2024 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Step down to recover and assess | June 2023 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Awaiting Community Resource capacity | June 2023 |
| 5 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Total | June 2023 |
| 16 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Monmouthshire | Total | July 2024 |
| 3 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Newport | Assessment Issues | November 2024 |
| 3 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Newport | Awaiting completion of assessment by social care | November 2024 |
| 3 | count of days delayed | Velindre | Newport | Total | November 2024 |
Main information
- Most recent update
- 26 September 2025
- Next update expected
- 23 October 2025
- Designation
- Official statistics
- Data provider
- NHS Delivery Unit
- Data source
- Pathways of Care Delays
Data notes
Overview
- Summary of dataset and variables
The Pathway of Care Delays data identifies patients with a discharge delay, and the reason for the delay, at a given point each month.
A delayed discharge occurs when a patient who is clinically ready for discharge cannot leave hospital because the necessary ongoing care and support or suitable accommodation for them is not yet accessible.
The data represent the number of adults occupying an NHS hospital bed, who were 'clinically optimised' ready to return home or move on to the next stage of care, that experienced a delay in their transfer of more than 48 hours beyond the point they were clinically optimised. 'Next stage of care' refers to all destinations outside of NHS hospitals. Data for local health board provider, relates to the local health board where the service was being provided and where the delay was experienced. This will include data from patients who reside from areas outside of the local health boards usual coverage. E.g. a service could be provided in the Cardiff and Vale health board, but the patient may reside in Bridgend (which is usually covered by Cwm Taf Morgannwg).
- Data collection or calculation
Data are provided by Local Health Boards and validated jointly with Local Authority partners.
The Pathway of Care Delays is a snapshot census that identifies people with a discharge delay and reason at a given point each month. Health Boards are required to extract the data from local systems on a census day in each month, and validate the delays with Local Authority partners. Subsequently, data records are entered via a web-based tool and submitted to NHS Wales.
- Statistical quality
Data are provided by Local Health Boards and validated jointly with Local Authority partners.
The Pathway of Care Delays is a snapshot census that identifies people with a discharge delay and reason at a given point each month. Health Boards are required to extract the data from local systems on a census day in each month, and validate the delays with Local Authority partners. Subsequently, data records are entered via a web-based tool and submitted to NHS Wales.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Welsh Government suspended delayed transfers of care (DTOC) reporting requirements, along with many other datasets. The Welsh Government introduced the COVID-19 Discharge Requirements, which included an updated discharge process with increased focus on rehabilitation and reablement to improve patient flow and support better outcomes. From July 2020, delayed discharge data were collected as management information on a weekly basis. These data were not formally validated. Subsequently a formal replacement, Pathways of Care Delays (POCD) has been developed and tested to replace DTOC. This system has now been rolled out across all Local Health Boards & Local Authorities and the first fully validated and quality assured data are available from april 2023. Welsh Government discharge guidance (COVID-19 Discharge Requirements) sets out the default approach to hospital discharges – the Discharge to Recover then Assess (D2RA) pathways (or 'recovery pathways').
The D2RA approach is based on evidence of better outcomes for people who transfer as soon as possible to their usual residence or other suitable care setting for rehabilitation or reablement prior to assessments for longer term care. A D2RA pathway (or recovery pathway) could be in a person’s own home, in a community hospital or in an alternative step-down setting.
Published by
- Organisation
- Welsh Government
- Contact email
- stats.healthinfo@gov.wales