An innovative partnership approach to health and social care in Birmingham helped to prevent more than 20,000 people being unnecessarily admitted to hospital from March 2020-March 2022. The ‘Early Intervention’ approach, now considered ‘business as usual’ across the city, focusses on frail, vulnerable and older people and works to a ‘home first’ ethos.  It helped reduce a person’s length of stay in hospital from an average of 12 days to four days, saving 120,000 bed days a year and ensuring that 45% of people are now more likely to go straight home when discharged from hospital instead of being admitted into long-term care, creating a financial benefit valued at £26.7m