Plans to help homeless people could be introduced by Bristol, North Somerset and South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning, following a funding boost.

Over £180,000 will be given to the Homeless Support Team Scheme, based at the BRI in Bristol.

A statement from the group said: "Homeless people typically suffer poorer health than the rest of the population and are much more likely to be admitted to hospital than others, making them a priority group for local health service commissioners."

The support team, which is made up of doctors, nurses, social workers and other health and care professionals, supports homeless people during their hospital stays and also after the visit.

They aim to tackle the wider social issues that can lead homeless people to hospital admission. The group recognises that in some cases, this can be as simple as ensuring that patients are guided to housing and benefits advice, given help registering with a GP or even just being provided with a clean set of clothes.

Recent studies have shown that often, a homeless persons only contact with healthcare is a hospital visit. The aim of the team is to work with the patient through their visit to get them into a position that helps them socially when they leave.

For example this could be trying to sort housing or contact with professionals.

During its first 18 months in operation the scheme helped reduce A&E admissions among its target group by 24%.

The length of hospital stays also fell from an average of eleven to three days. But most impressively, the number of homeless people who were re-admitted to A&E within 28 days, also fell by 52%.

BRI Clinical Coordinator for the Homeless Support Team, Lucy Harrison, admitted it was really exciting to see the positive changes that the group is making.

"This is really welcome news and will make a big difference to local homeless people," she said.

"When homeless patients come into our care, they often have more than just health problems. This service helps to remove some of these barriers and makes accessing healthcare easier for them.

"The results we have seen from the pilot both in numbers and people has been really positive and we are looking forward to continuing this work and extending the service to meet the needs of the homeless in North Somerset and South Gloucestershire."

Local GP and CCG lead for the Homeless Support Team project, Dr Kate Rush also expressed her delight at how the scheme has been working since its introduction.

"The scheme aims to break this cycle by working with homeless people attending A&E to get them back on their feet and address some of the issues that can lead to homelessness and ill-health in the first place," she said.

"It’s incredibly encouraging to see the impact of the scheme from the first 18 months and I’m delighted that the CCG has been able to allocate funding to move it on to a permanent footing."