NHS makes plans for winter
New measures to deal more effectively with winter pressures include care ‘traffic control’ centres, more Acute Respiratory Infection Hubs and extra hospital beds.
These plans represent the next phase of development in the NHS Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan, which was published in January. This included commitments to increase capacity, grow the healthcare workforce, speed up discharge from hospitals, expand new services in the community and improve access to care.
Care ‘traffic control’ centres
Every day there are more than 12,000 patients who remain in hospital despite being medically fit for discharge, taking up valuable time of nurses and other healthcare staff. Bringing together NHS staff such as occupational therapists with social care, housing and voluntary sector representatives, the centres provide a one-stop hub for staff to locate and coordinate the best and fastest discharge options for patients.
Care ‘traffic control’ centres are already operating for 12 hours a day, seven days a week in a quarter of local areas. The plan is for these services to be available in every area of the country by winter.
Acute Respiratory Inspection Hubs
It’s currently winter in Australia and the country is experiencing an exceptionally high level of seasonal flu. This could indicate that the NHS in England will be dealing with higher than usual levels of respiratory illness when winter arrives here.
Acute Respiratory Inspection Hubs were first introduced last winter in response to the potential of COVID-19 and flu peaking together. The hubs offer patients same-day, face-to-face assessment for conditions such as COVID, flu and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), helping to speed up access to care and advice, while reducing pressure on GPs and hospital staff.
More beds
£250 million has been invested since the publication of the UEC Recovery Plan to boost capacity and speed up discharge. NHS hospitals are on track to deliver 5,000 additional ‘core’ permanent general and acute beds. More than 99,000 core beds will be in place across the country by December 2023.
Record numbers of doctors and nurses
Growing the workforce is at the heart of the UEC Recovery Plan and the wider NHS strategy to reduce waiting times and improve access to healthcare. NHS workforce statistics for May 2023 showed record numbers of doctors and nurses working in the NHS. Compared to March 2022, there were over 5,400 more doctors and over 12,900 more people working in NHS nursing jobs. The government says it’s on target to meet its manifesto commitment of recruiting 50,000 more nurses by 2024.
“We continue to make progress on strengthening the NHS and primary care workforce,” said Steve Barclay, Health and Social Care Secretary. “Cutting waiting lists is one of the government’s five priorities, so it is extremely promising to see record numbers of NHS doctors, nurses, midwives and nursing associates registered to practice in the UK to ensure patients get the care they need more quickly.”
