"Homeless people are considered to be particularly vulnerable because of the high rates of drug use and mental health problems."

The truth is, society in general seems to have failed homeless people. Oh sure, many of those who are homeless have made - and often continue to make - some really bad choices in their lives, but who hasn't? Some of us simply learn quicker than others, some of us have better or more tolerant support systems, some of us have more money with which to address one's own personal problems. But I've become increasingly convinced, like Judge Eisenstein, that the community is going to have to singularly "adopt" those persons suffering from hardcore homelessness and work with them intensely and individually to address their problems, barriers and obstacles to housing, income and health. We do that now on a "collective" basis and it doesn't seem very effective either way it may be judged; overall cost or rate of success. I was speaking to a gentleman yesterday about a very interesting idea he had that made this kind of intensive one-on-one care possible, without incurring a huge cost to society in the process. In fact, the way this man had designed his program, it would actually result in a net profit to society, which isn't hard to believe if you consider that taking one person from homelessness and restoring their ability to participate fully in our society significantly reduces their overall impact on the tax dollar. You'll probably hear more about this idea in the future; the person behind it is no slouch in the business world and he's considering a way to implement it here in Nashville now. If he decides to move forward, I think you'll hear a lot about him, his wife and their idea in the coming months....

Hospitals 'fail homeless people'

The number of homeless people has been declining in recent years

The NHS is failing homeless people by not offering the support they need when released from hospital, the Tories say.

Figures obtained by shadow housing minister Grant Shapps showed the number of homeless people treated in hospital had risen by 28% in four years.

He said the underlying cause of the rise was the fact the NHS was not liaising with local services, meaning the patients ended up back in hospital.

The government argues that progress was being made with the problem.

Hospitals are meant to alert local housing and health services when patients are discharged.

The NHS is under such pressure to get people out quickly that it does not have the time to offer the support to homeless people they need Grant Shapps, shadow housing spokesman

Homeless people are considered to be particularly vulnerable because of the high rates of drug use and mental health problems.

The Tories asked England's 171 hospital trusts how many people with no fixed abode they had admitted from 2003 to 2007.

This covers people living in temporary accommodation, such as hostels, and rough sleepers.

Responses from 103 trusts showed that 6,358 people with no fixed abode were admitted in 2007, compared to 4,984 in 2003.

This comes at a time when the number of homeless people is falling, according to official figures.

Mr Shapps said: "The NHS is under such pressure to get people out quickly that it does not have the time to offer the support to homeless people they need.

"This target culture means they are highly likely to develop further health problems and end back in hospital.

"It is a vicious circle."

Drain

Jeremy Swain, chief executive of the Thames Reach homelessness charity, said there were examples of good practice, but added too many hospitals were not making a "serious effort".

"Sending people back to the street is morally unacceptable and also creates an expensive, unnecessary drain on precious NHS resources."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Everybody is entitled to the best possible healthcare on the NHS, including homeless people.

"We are making progress on addressing the needs of homeless people."

He added homeless people were getting better access to services, particularly with the introduction of walk-in centres, while outreach work was being done in the community to ensure support was in place.