The Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Wellbeing Board has approved an overspend of £528,165 on community equipment, primarily due to the collapse of a contract with provider NRS, which went into administration on August 1st, 2025. This necessitated the mobilisation of emergency contracts and the establishment of a new provider, Provide Care Solutions Ltd, from September 22nd, 2025.
The overspend was detailed in the Better Care Fund (BCF) Quarter 4 report for the financial year 2025-2026, presented to the board on Monday, June 22, 2026. The report can be found in the Public reports pack.
Sarah Bright, Director of Commissioning, Transformation and Partnerships, explained that while two out of three key metrics for the BCF were on track, the discharge target was not being met. She attributed this in part to equipment provision and discharge processes from acute to community settings, though she noted improvements had been made.
The discharge target is reported as 'not on track to meet the target'. While performance improved towards the end of the year, delays remain above the annual average target. The average discharge delay for all acute adult patients is targeted at 1.05 days, with the proportion of adult patients discharged on their discharge ready date targeted at 85.0%. For those not discharged on their discharge ready date, the average number of days from discharge ready date to discharge is targeted at 7.00 days. The meeting noted that the average discharge delays exceeded the target of 6.93 days, although performance improved in March 2026.
Since the initial issues with equipment provision and discharge processes were identified, improvements have been made through increased social work presence in hospitals and strengthened discharge pathways by working with hospital colleagues. Actions implemented to support improvement include the provision of more social work resource embedded in the Emergency Department at Charing Cross, reviewing discharge pathways with the Integrated Discharge Hub, and ensuring clearer pathways including escalation for specific barriers to discharge.
Caroline Farrar, Managing Director of the Hammersmith and Fulham Health and Care Partnership, acknowledged the council's support in managing the community equipment contract, describing it as a significant piece of work
and critical bit of system infrastructure.
The BCF aims to support community health and social care resources to prevent hospital admissions and aid patient discharge. The agenda for the meeting can be found here.
