Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB
Nottingham health leaders have welcomed the news that 24 new hospital beds will be made available this winter, backed by £9.8 million government funding to help treat patients more quickly.
The Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay announced the plans as part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery plan, which is hoped will see patients treated more quickly , and cut waiting times.
The funding has been awarded to NHS trusts to relieve pressures and cut waiting times, one of the government’s top five priorities. It is part of a £250 million investment in 900 beds across the country.
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust is set to receive £9.8 million to provide a specialised 24-bed assessment ward for the elderly.
Duncan Hanslow, Programme Director for Reconfiguration and Transformation, said: “We are really pleased to have successfully bid for this funding, which will deliver a specialised, 24-bed assessment ward for the elderly near to our Accident and Emergency (A&E) and the Acute Medicine assessment unit at the QMC.
“The ward will provide many benefits to all our patients: it will help patient flow through A&E, improve the quality of care and experience for a vulnerable group of patients in a purpose-built, dementia-friendly space, and it will support greater collaboration between A&E, Acute Medicine and the Healthcare for Older People (HCOP) services, to ensure patient assessments are undertaken more quickly and efficiently.”
These measures will support the NHS’ recovery from the pandemic, and ensure that patients receive the care they need, when they need it.
Amanda Sullivan, Chief Executive at NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board, added: “We welcome this government funding following a successful bid by Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust. These additional beds will help more people to be treated quickly and speed up the flow through the hospital. Creating additional hospital capacity will also support staff to provide the best possible care and treat patients more quickly.
“Ahead of this winter we have also joined the NHS England accelerator programme, an initiative which will support our ongoing service improvement in a number of priority areas including discharge and flow and developing an urgent care coordination hub to ensure people are directed and referred to the right place first time.
“We have also committed as a system to focus on the further development of our virtual wards as our high priority area of focus ahead of winter as we look to step up our virtual ward offer.
“These initiatives will complement and integrate with the additional capacity that will be on offer at Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust.”
