Harrow's Health and Wellbeing Board has approved the plan for the Better Care Fund (BCF) for 2026/27, building on the previous year's performance and aiming to further integrate health and social care services. The fund's pooled schemes for 2026/27 total £34.57 million, an increase of £611,000 from the previous year.
The board met on Thursday, July 2, 2026, to review the end-of-year report for the Better Care Fund 2025/26 and endorse the plan for the upcoming year. The BCF is a government initiative designed to foster collaboration between health and social care providers.
In the 2025/26 period, Harrow performed well against two key metrics: delayed discharges and admissions to care homes for individuals aged 65 and over. The plan exceeded its target for patients discharged on their Discharge Ready Date (DRD), averaging 93%, and maintained a strong performance in reducing care home admissions, with 138 permanent admissions against a target of 150. The Bridging-to-Home
service was expanded in 2025/26 to increase the proportion of people returning home for assessment earlier, reducing reliance on short-term bed-based capacity.
While emergency admissions to hospital for those aged 65 and over were slightly above the target by 0.7% (45 patients), this was attributed to a predicted population increase of 2.0% between 2024 and 2025. Harrow aims to continue its focus on reducing these admissions in the 2026/27 plan.
The 2026/27 plan will continue to focus on three core metrics: non-elective admissions to hospital for those aged 65 and over, average length of discharge delay, and admissions to residential and nursing care homes. For non-elective admissions, the ambition is a 0.5% reduction, accounting for population growth and system changes, with a target rate of 1,578 per 100,000 population. The average length of discharge delay aims for a 5% reduction, targeting an average of 5.25 days from DRD to discharge, with 93.0% of adult patients discharged on their DRD.
Key elements of the new plan include the preservation of critical schemes like Bridging to Home
and Complex Care
to ensure safe discharge pathways and support for individuals with higher needs. A home first
principle will continue to guide discharge planning, with an ambition to reduce planned admissions to care homes to 140 on a rolling 12-month basis. This principle ensures residents are supported to recover and return home where safe and appropriate, with care home placements from hospital being short-term and reviewed within 4-6 weeks.
Andrew Davies, Assistant Director for Strategy and Commissioning, presented the BCF report, highlighting the importance of the fund in driving integration and supporting residents to live independently for longer. Laurence Gibson, Director of Public Health, also contributed to discussions on the forward plan, which included topics such as smoking cessation and mental health. The forward plan may explore raising awareness of poor mental health, outlining support pathways, and identifying common touchpoints with residents. It was also noted that addressing smoking cessation and tobacco control is timely, given an estimated 18,000 smokers in Harrow.
Further details on the BCF plan can be found in the Public reports pack for the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting on July 2, 2026 Public reports pack Thursday 02-Jul-2026 14.00 Health and Wellbeing Board.
