'Pulling out miracles': Meet the team helping homeless people in Edinburgh leave hospital this winter

However, for those who have no home to go to, the prospect of leaving the safety of the hospital ward can be a daunting prospect.

Unfortunately this is a daily reality in Edinburgh - but the hospital in reach team at the Cyrenians are working hard to try and help.

For the past few years, the team has been working with homeless people at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Western General Hospital and Edinburgh Royal Hospital to make sure they have somewhere safe to go once their treatment is over.

However, it is getting harder and harder to do this as the number of beds for homeless people in the Scottish capital gets increasingly smaller.

Service manager Rachael Kenyon said: “The team are pulling miracles out the bag on a daily basis to get things sorted for people, and currently there are no miracles left in the bag.”

The charity is facing increasing challenges over the cold winter months and the busy festive period.

Ms Kenyon said: “This service was set up because we know people experiencing homelessness have some of the poorest health outcomes of any group in society. They have more hospital admissions, and once they are in hospital they tend to be there for much longer.”

Ms Kenyon said the hospital in reach team were the bridge between the hospital staff, who might not know their patient is homeless, and the housing support officers who might not know the person they are working with is in hospital.

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Those experiencing homelessness end up in hospital for all kinds of reasons, particularly as their conditions are often much more severe than they would be if they had a permanent home to live in.

Ms Kenyon said: “We know people experiencing homelessness have conditions that in severity are comparable with people of a much older age. So somebody in their 30s might present with COPD [chronic obstructive pulmonary disease] that you usually see in somebody who is in their 70s.

“They are also far more likely to be admitted to hospital or die from adverse events, and are more likely to experience accidents and assaults. We also know they are far more likely to experience mental health difficulties and have health conditions because of addiction.”

Over the colder months, many are admitted for respiratory infections such as pneumonia, flu and Covid. Cyrenians is even seeing people who are suffering with tuberculosis.

Mental health conditions can also be exacerbated over the Christmas period as well, which is something else Cyrenians is equipped to deal with.

Cyrenians inclusion health link worker Chris Morey said: “Christmas is a really difficult time of the year for a lot of the people we are working with.

“There are so many people we come across who have never had a Christmas dinner or received Christmas presents, and it can be really stressful and bring back a lot of bad memories.

“If you’re already suffering from mental health issues and addiction, that all just gets piled on top and it can lead to increased drug and alcohol use, which can then lead to accidents.”

The team receives a daily report of all the patients at the three hospitals who are registered as homeless so they can get in touch with them as quickly as possible. However, accommodation is a huge stumbling block for the organisation.

This is particularly problematic in Edinburgh because of the dwindling number of homelessness beds, and over the colder months this becomes even more pertinent.

Mr Morey said discharging people back onto the streets in the cold winter months was not an option, as “they will die or be back in hospital again”.

In previous years, he said the Cyrenians had a good relationship with council housing officers and had been able to get accommodation for hospital patients straight away.

But just over a year ago, a housing crisis was declared in Edinburgh, and getting a safe, warm bed organised has become more difficult for the hospital in reach team.

“It has changed,” said Mr Morey. “We now have to email the housing team in the first instance and we find it difficult to get any sort of reply back, and when we do we are finding there is nothing.

“We still have the Haymarket hub hotel and the Bethany welcome centre, but they are first come, first served. They can’t keep accommodation aside for people.

“It’s really, really difficult. There is a total block in trying to get accommodation. It has always been hard, but there has been a big jump lately.”

Ms Kenyon added: “Edinburgh has always had a shortage of temporary accommodation. In the past year, it has gotten much more difficult because of the housing crisis and that has made our jobs more difficult.

“The hospital staff are always amazed at how these guys can pull things out the bag and make things happen for people, because nobody wants to discharge somebody to inappropriate accommodation or to rough sleeping.”

An Edinburgh City Council spokeswoman said the authority’s housing officers attend regular meetings on discharge planning and work hard to make sure patients are discharged into settled, permanent accommodation.

You can donate to Cyrenians’ winter campaign, which is being supported by The Scotsman, by clicking here or by using the QR code above.