ALMOST half of homeless people say they are discharged back onto the streets after being admitted to hospital.

The survey of 85 homeless people, co-ordinated by homeless charities and groups in Swindon, was carried out to better understand the often complex health needs of people on the streets and how existing services could be improved.

The study showed more than two thirds said that they had a long-standing illness or disability and nearly half of those questioned said they had a form of mental health problem.

A third of respondents admitted to hospital said they had been readmitted within month, suggesting recurring issues and needs that often weren't being met.

Graeme Willis, Threshold CEO, said: "We had seen people being discharged from hospital to the streets, literally turning up at soup kitchens in pyjamas. We had experienced huge problems in accessing mental health treatment for seriously ill, highly vulnerable people – many who were unable to get prescriptions for the essential medicines they needed".

"The issues of homelessness have a financial impact on the NHS, the police, the council and charities. Unfortunately the reality is that overall costs are greater if prevention and treatment services are not well planned and adequately resourced. We reasoned that without knowing accurately what the problems are, it is logically difficult to imagine how we can be a wholly effective part of planning the solution?"

Michael Keenan, Threshold’s Business development manager, added: “Our motivation in doing so was to empirically reflect, in comprehensive detail, the reality of existence for homeless individuals in our town. With limited resources across the borough, and within our own charity, we wanted to be certain that finite resources were deployed to maximum impact for the benefit of those in desperate need.

“By publishing this report we hope that partners within health, housing, and in the voluntary sector will be able to plan their services more effectively to improve the lives of our homeless population.”

Gill May, director of nursing and transformation at Swindon CCG, said: “This report, which is full of valuable insight into what life on the streets is really like, will go a long way in helping us together deliver practical healthcare solutions – such as free flu jabs and support for drug and alcohol addiction – that will hopefully make life that little bit easier for some of the most vulnerable people in our town.”

The anonymous survey, conducted across two weeks in September, asked 85 respondents 70 questions used by the national Homeless Link Health Audit.