More than £460,000 is to be invested in projects to ensure homeless people get more support when they leave hospital.
Four Sussex-based schemes successfully bid for Government funds to carry out their work.
Homeless people are up to six times more likely to attend hospital accident and emergency departments than those with a home.
Around 70% of homeless patients are discharged back onto the street without their housing or on-going care needs after hospital being properly addressed.
The projects are run by voluntary sector organisations who will work with theNHSand local councils to ensure people get the best possible help after they leave hospital.
This is expected to cut the number of homeless people who have to be readmitted.
Brighton Housing Trust (BHT) will get £89,742 to employ a general nurse and specialist support worker to look after patients who are discharged from the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton back to hostels.
The money was a joint bid between BHT and two other charities that help the homeless – CRI and Riverside.
Nikki Homewood, a director at BHT, said work would start immediately on recruiting staff.
She said: “We want to improve the link between the hospital and the hostels to ensure people get the correct follow up appointments and aftercare they need to fully and safely recover.
“This has been a long-standing issue so having this funding will help make a big difference in this area.”
Stonepillow, a Christian care organisation in Chichester, has been awarded £162,500 for the refurbishment of five units specifically for those who have just been discharged.
The Justlife Foundation is receiving £118,724 to identify homeless patients in West Sussex and create systems for tracking and supporting them.
Sanctuary Supported Living is receiving £90,741 for two specialist project workers, who will resettle homeless people after they have been discharged from the Conquest Hospital in St Leonards.
A recent report to Brighton and Hove’s Clinical Commissioning Group said homeless people were some of the city’s most vulnerable individuals, who often had a combination of physical ill-health with mental illness and substance abuse.
This placed an “unprecedented pressure on health, housing support servic
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