Patients 'discharged overnight' - UK - ITN.co.uk The medical director of the NHS has promised action after it was reported that hundreds of thousands of patients are being sent home from hospital in the middle of the night to relieve pressure on beds. According to a Freedom of Information request by The Times, some 3.5 per cent of all hospital discharges took place between 11pm and 6am, a rate that has held steady for the last five years. "I am concerned to hear that some patients may be being discharged unnecessarily late," said medical director Sir Bruce Keogh. Patients should only be discharged when it's clinically appropriate, safe and convenient for them and their families. It is simply not fair to be sending people home late at night. We will look at this. The newspaper submitted requests to all 170 NHS hospital trusts in England, with the 100 that responded saying 239,233 patients had been sent home overnight last year. Rates varied between 8.7 per cent and less than 1 per cent across the trusts, the newspaper said. It quoted patient campaigners saying that the elderly were often worst affected as they are abruptly sent home to empty houses without proper planning.