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Government allocates up to £ 250 million to speed up hospital discharge
On 9 January it was announced that the NHS will buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients to free up hospital beds .
Health and Social Care Secretary , Steve Barclay , said that the government will make available up to £ 200 million of additional funding to immediately buy short-term care placements , to allow people to be discharged safely from hospitals into the community , where they will receive the care they need to recover before returning to their homes .
The move will free up hospital beds so people can be admitted more quickly from A & E to wards , reducing pressure on emergency departments and speeding up ambulance handovers .
There are currently around 13,000 people occupying hospital beds in England who are fit to be discharged .
In a statement in Parliament , Mr Barclay said : ‘ The NHS is under enormous pressure from COVID-19 and flu , and on top of tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic , strep A and upcoming strikes , this winter poses an extreme challenge .
‘ I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on the health service , including investing an additional £ 200 million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital and free up hospital capacity , on top of the £ 500 million we ’ ve already invested to tackle this issue .
‘ In addition , we are trialling six National Discharge Frontrunners – innovative , quick solutions which could reduce discharge delays , moving patients from hospital to home more quickly .’
He added that Sussex Health and Care , the Northern Care Alliance , Humber and North Yorkshire , One Croydon Alliance , Leeds Health and Care Partnership and Warwickshire Place have all put forward ideas that will help the patients in their area move out of hospital more quickly , while providing continuity of care .
‘ These ideas include dedicated dementia hubs , new offers of provision for rehabilitative care and creating effective data tools to help manage demand for discharge of medically fit patients – giving them the help they need to live comfortably in the community after a hospital stay ,’ he said . ‘ This new programme will trial long-term solutions to issues that result in patients staying in hospital longer than necessary . For example , one area , Leeds , is looking to improve how health teams in their local hospitals are working with
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We want to ensure all patients ready to leave hospital do so quickly and safely , and NHS staff are working closely with local authority colleagues to help get more patients out of hospital when they are medically fit to do so .”
those providing community services such as rehabilitation , which will mean better support locally for patients who need support after a hospital stay .’
Sarah-Jane Marsh , National Director of Urgent and Emergency Care , said : ‘ There is no doubt the NHS is under pressure , with latest weekly data showing flu cases in hospital increased by almost half , putting additional strain on already busy wards and departments .
‘ We want to ensure all patients ready to leave hospital do so quickly and safely , and NHS staff are working closely with local authority colleagues to help get more patients out of hospital when they are medically fit to do so .
‘ We hope the frontrunner programme will offer new solutions for local systems to help patients access the services they need and help to free up bed space in NHS hospitals .’
February 2023 OTnews 7