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Managing winter pressures to sustain patient flow and elective care recovery
Winter pressures aren’t seasonal; they’re systemic. With patient flow at breaking point and elective recovery under threat, NHS leaders need solutions that deliver resilience now.
Last winter, bed occupancy exceeded 92%, delayed discharges blocked patient flow from A&E into wards and elective care backlogs continued to grow. This year, these challenges demand integrated approaches that restore flow and protect planned care.
That’s where partnering with Xyla makes the difference. We work with NHS organisations to deliver clinically governed, scalable solutions that outperform national benchmarks, combining expertise and operational efficiency to keep patient care moving.
Accelerating hospital discharge to restore patient flow
Behind every statistic are corridors filled with patients waiting for care, a reality described as ‘warlike’ in a recent Age UK report. Many are medically fit to leave but remain due to blocked patient flow and delays in arranging community or social care.
Restoring patient flow and reducing strain starts with clearing discharge bottlenecks. Providers need solutions that are clinically robust, fast to deploy and proven to deliver results.
Xyla injects capacity into overstretched discharge teams and wards, providing immediate relief so frontline staff can focus on patient care. Our services accelerate safe, timely discharges through trusted assessor models, coordinated care placements and supported discharge services. Unlike advisory approaches, we deploy skilled staff rapidly and flexibly, adding resource to alleviate pressure and restore flow.
Combining clinical governance with practical delivery, we manage family and provider communications, connecting patients to care homes or community services quickly, streamlining processes that free beds and reduce delays.
Xyla in 2025: Delivering results
5,700 patients discharged
Helping thousands return home safely and quickly.
Referral to discharge in under 3 days
Streamlined care pathways for faster recovery.
£34.2m saved
Significant cost reductions for NHS and social care systems.
County Durham hospitals were facing mounting delays in patient flow, with medically fit patients unable to leave due to care placement challenges and funding complexities. Xyla partnered with the Trust as an independent system provider, embedding its team within local discharge processes to deliver a seamless, clinically governed service.
Xyla accelerated care placements, connecting patients quickly to approved providers while controlling costs. The trusted assessor model delivered independent assessments for hospital teams and care homes within two hours, removing delays and enabling faster decisions. Consistent communication with families and providers reduced anxiety, while flexible funding support allowed referrals from IC+ beds and neighbouring trusts, keeping the system moving.
Impact over 12 months:
- 1,040 safe discharges, including complex cases
- Average of 3 days from referral to discharge
- 417 Trusted Assessments completed within 2 hours
- 4,344 hours saved for Adult Social Care teams
- 91,417 activities delivered to support discharge processes
- 98% of service users rated the service excellent or very good
This integrated approach freed beds, reduced delays and improved patient experience, demonstrating how targeted discharge solutions can ease pressure across the system.
Our proven results
Average return of £8 for every £1 spent across services
Partnerships with over 50 NHS Trusts across the country
Support provided to over 138,000 patients
95% of patients/families rate our services ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’.
Average of 13 bed days saved for every patient placed.
Median referral-to-discharge time of 2 days 20 hours.
Protecting elective care during winter pressures
Elective recovery remains a critical priority for the NHS, yet winter surges place diagnostics and theatre capacity under severe strain. When urgent demand rises, elective surgery is often the first casualty.
Hospitals routinely cancel planned operations to free capacity for emergency care. These disruptions create backlogs, administrative pressure and significant challenges in maintaining referral-to-treatment (RTT) and diagnostic (DM01) performance.
Xyla enables access to a wide range of clinical care services delivered in hospitals, in the community and virtually through flexible consultant-led models that integrate seamlessly with your teams. Partnering with over 80 NHS trusts, our flexible models are tailored to your needs, ensuring theatres stay open, even during evenings and weekends, so elective lists continue without disruption. Services can be rapidly mobilised with minimal lead time, boosting diagnostic capacity to prevent backlogs and keep pathways moving.
Seamless integration with your existing teams and pathways means no disruption to established processes. Flexible scheduling and community-based options help maintain or improve RTT and DM01 positions, even under peak pressure. By delivering the right workforce at the right time, cancellations are avoided, delays reduced, and elective programmes kept on track throughout the winter period.
Gain confidence in care delivery with a robust clinical quality and governance framework accredited by the CQC and aligned with NHS and national guidelines, including NICE, BAD, RCS and SIGN. A dedicated governance team drives continuous quality assurance, incident reporting and professional development, ensuring patient safety and service excellence remain uncompromised, even during winter surge pressures.
Xyla in 2025: Delivering results
673,000 episodes of care delivered
Supporting NHS organisations with scalable clinical solutions.
97% client retention rate across 200+ NHS organisations
Building long-term partnerships that drive consistent outcomes.
99% of patients rated their experience as ‘very good’ or ‘good’
Ensuring exceptional quality and patient satisfaction at every stage.
Frimley ICB faced routine dermatology waiting times of over 80 weeks, creating significant challenges for patient care and increasing anxiety. The Trust sought an innovative solution and partnered with Xyla to implement a consultant-led teledermatology model.
Xyla delivered a secure referral platform aligned with British Association of Dermatologists guidelines. GPs submitted cases with or without dermatoscopic images, supported by a medical photography clinic operating up to five days per week. Images were available within two working days for suspected cancers and up to 10 days for routine cases.
Consultant dermatologists reviewed referrals remotely and could:
- Onward refer to the acute Trust if required
- Direct patients to community clinics
- Provide GPs with management plans to avoid unnecessary face-to-face appointments
This approach accelerated diagnosis, reduced demand on acute services and improved patient experience.
Impact
- 48% reduction in two-week wait referrals sent to secondary care
- 69% of referrals managed outside secondary care
- Reviews completed within 48 hours, improving patient flow and reducing anxiety
- USC upgrades reduced waits from 80+ weeks to two weeks
“Xyla teledermatology provides the optimum model for future dermatology services. Patients with benign lesions are reassured quickly while those needing urgent care access treatment within two weeks instead of waiting months.”
Rob Ellis, Consultant Dermatologist
Proven NHS partner
Over 673,000 episodes of care delivered in 2024 alone
97% client retention rate across 200+ NHS organisations
99% of patients rated their experience as ‘very good’ or ‘good’
Unrivalled clinical quality and governance
CQC-accredited governance framework
Full compliance with NHS and national clinical guidelines (NICE, BAD, RCS, SIGN, and more)
Dedicated internal clinical governance team for quality assurance, incident reporting, and continuous professional development
Flexible, scalable delivery
Consultant-led, flexible models tailored to your needs
Rapid mobilisation and minimal lead time for service implementation
Seamless integration with your existing teams and pathways
Building resilience beyond winter
Winter pressures expose systemic challenges in patient flow and elective recovery. Xyla delivers clinically governed, scalable solutions that keep care moving when demand peaks. Partner with us to reduce delays, free beds and improve patient experience this winter and beyond.
By combining operational expertise with the UK’s largest flexible healthcare workforce, we deliver results that free beds, reduce delays and improve patient experience across the system. Whether you need rapid deployment or long-term transformation, Xyla is ready to support your goals.
Let’s work together to build a stronger, more resilient NHS.
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Meet our experts
Maria Knowles
Head of Service Development
Maria joined Xyla in 2018 as Business Manager for the North East, later moving into a Service Delivery Manager role within Pulse Nursing at Home, Xyla’s sister company, a leading community care provider. After six months, she returned to Xyla to focus on service development and was appointed Head of Service Development in 2023.
In her role, Maria develops meaningful partnerships with ICBs, NHS Trusts, and Local Authorities, ensuring their challenges are fully understood and aligning service offerings to meet their evolving needs. She is passionate about driving innovation in patient flow that delivers operational efficiency and significant cost savings. With over 32 years of experience delivering solutions for the NHS, Maria brings deep expertise and a commitment to improving outcomes across the system, continually enhanced by insights gained from attending conferences and industry events. Above all, she is dedicated to putting patients at the heart of every decision.
Gregory Broad
Growth Director
Greg joined Xyla in January 2025 as Growth Director. In his role, Greg and his team develop meaningful partnerships with leadership in ICBs, and NHS Trusts to support the creation of additional capacity and enhance productivity. He is passionate about reducing backlogs in diagnostics and accelerating elective recovery within the NHS. Greg and his team are always looking for innovative opportunities to deliver flexible solutions that offer the best outcomes for patients while providing the best value and efficiencies for the trusts and ICBs we partner with.
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