## Why hospitals push to discharge quickly
If your relative is currently in hospital, you're likely dealing with the "Discharge to Assess" model used across NHS trusts in England since 2016: once someone no longer needs acute hospital care, the aim is to move them out of the hospital bed quickly, with any further assessment for long-term care happening afterwards — either at home with short-term support or, if that isn't safe, in a care home. NHS data has repeatedly shown thousands of patients nationally staying in hospital beds each day despite being medically fit to leave, simply because no safe onward place was ready — which is exactly the pressure families feel.
The hospital's discharge team or ward social worker is the first point of contact, and they can request an urgent care needs assessment from the local authority (under the Care Act 2014) if a care home is likely to be needed.
## What actually speeds things up in London
**Check the CQC rating before anything else, even under time pressure.** Every registered care home in London has a public rating from the Care Quality Commission — Outstanding, Good, Requires Improvement or Inadequate — at cqc.org.uk. Anything below "Good" is worth a hard second look, no matter how urgent the situation feels.
**Widen the search across boroughs.** London is enormous — a home in an outer borough may have a vacancy days sooner than one in the family's immediate area, and a transfer closer to home often becomes possible later once the placement is secure.
**Ask directly about NHS-funded nursing care and Continuing Healthcare.** If nursing needs are involved, NHS-funded nursing care (FNC) contributes toward the nursing element of the fees; in some cases, NHS Continuing Healthcare (CHC) can fund the full cost if there's a primary health need — worth raising with the hospital discharge team immediately, since it can change which homes are realistically affordable.
**Contact several homes in parallel**, not one at a time — asking directly about emergency or short-notice vacancies rather than just "do you have a room."
## What wastes time
Waiting for the local authority assessment to fully complete before contacting any homes — the two can run in parallel. Accepting the first vacancy without checking the CQC rating or recent inspection report. Limiting the search to a single borough when a short journey elsewhere could mean days saved.
## A practical shortcut
**Curalune Care Help** puts together a shortlist of 3-5 compatible care homes across London, usually within 24 working hours, with direct contacts and the right first-call questions — so the family's energy goes into decisions, not into calling dozens of homes one by one during an already exhausting week.