NHS to buy care beds for thousands of patients stranded in hospitals under contingency plan
Amid scenes of crisis in urgent care, Health Secretary Steve Barclay will today unveil a set of winter emergencies for alleviate intense pressures on emergency and ambulance services.
Lines of ambulances have been seen outside hospitals as the NHS faces intense pressure (
Image: AFP via Getty Images
Thousands of NHS patients will be moved to care homes as part of government plans to ease crippling pressures on health services.
Amid scenes of crisis in emergency care, Health Secretary Steve Barclay will today unveil a set of winter emergencies to ease intense pressures on emergency and ambulance services .
Ministers earmarked £250m to upgrade hospitals and buy thousands of extra beds in care homes for patients well enough to be discharged from hospital, to free up space space in hospital wards and to speed up the transfer of ambulances.
But Labor called the plans ‘yet another band-aid’ rather than trying to fix ‘distorted’ health and care services.
There are currently 13,000 people stuck in English hospitals who are well enough to leave but need help so they cannot return home.
Picture:
Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)Under this plan, the government will fund short-term placements in community settings, such as care homes, to fund stays of up to four weeks per patient until the end of March.
The idea is to reduce pressure on ERs and speed up ambulance transfers by allowing patients to be admitted to EDs faster - and avoid vehicle queues emergency outside of hospitals.
The money will come from existing health budgets rather than new funding for Treasury beds.
Mr. Barclay said: "The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid and flu, and as well as tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, strep A and the coming strikes, this winter poses a extreme challenge.
"I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on health services, including investing an extra £...
Amid scenes of crisis in urgent care, Health Secretary Steve Barclay will today unveil a set of winter emergencies for alleviate intense pressures on emergency and ambulance services.
Lines of ambulances have been seen outside hospitals as the NHS faces intense pressure (
Image: AFP via Getty Images
Thousands of NHS patients will be moved to care homes as part of government plans to ease crippling pressures on health services.
Amid scenes of crisis in emergency care, Health Secretary Steve Barclay will today unveil a set of winter emergencies to ease intense pressures on emergency and ambulance services .
Ministers earmarked £250m to upgrade hospitals and buy thousands of extra beds in care homes for patients well enough to be discharged from hospital, to free up space space in hospital wards and to speed up the transfer of ambulances.
But Labor called the plans ‘yet another band-aid’ rather than trying to fix ‘distorted’ health and care services.
There are currently 13,000 people stuck in English hospitals who are well enough to leave but need help so they cannot return home.
Picture:
Ian Vogler/Daily Mirror)Under this plan, the government will fund short-term placements in community settings, such as care homes, to fund stays of up to four weeks per patient until the end of March.
The idea is to reduce pressure on ERs and speed up ambulance transfers by allowing patients to be admitted to EDs faster - and avoid vehicle queues emergency outside of hospitals.
The money will come from existing health budgets rather than new funding for Treasury beds.
Mr. Barclay said: "The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid and flu, and as well as tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, strep A and the coming strikes, this winter poses a extreme challenge.
"I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on health services, including investing an extra £...
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