Nearly £2million of funding has been given to the Isle of Wight to help discharge hospital patients who are well enough to go home but are blocking much-needed beds.
It is part of a £500million national effort to clear the NHS of ‘bedblockers’ — the term used for patients who can leave hospital but have no care organised.
In December, there were 13,000 people stuck in hospitals across England.
The problem on the Island has caused the Isle of Wight NHS Trust to declare a nearly 2-month-long critical incident as blockages in the system led to an inability to admit patients.
The Trust has said, on average, there are now routinely 70 to 75 patients in St Mary’s Hospital in Newport that cannot leave – around 25% of all beds.
From the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, the Department of Health and Social Care gave the Island £1,937,811 — split between the Isle of Wight Council and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB) — to address the current system pressures.
10 schemes have been highlighted to receive funding, including:
- Additional home care capacity to help the council’s outreach team, expected to help 30 people
- Additional money to the Bluebell House Residential Care Home in Ventnor as a step-down facility, estimated to help 70 people
- A new nurse-led community unit for patients no longer needing to stay, with the potential to help 144 people
- Another community day hub, this time on the south of the Island, to support hospital discharge, able to help 8 patients a day, 7 days a week
- Enhance the current telehealth equipment providing proactive support to care home
- Use the national scheme, offering enhanced rates to all care providers to maximise their facilities
- Increased use of agency staff to extend the capacity of the discharge team and clinical case management
Darren Cattell, the Isle of Wight NHS Trust’s chief executive told the Island’s Health and Wellbeing Board yesterday (Thursday) that the Trust had benefitted significantly from the additional funding, even if it was temporary.
Council leader Councillor Lora Peacey-Wilcox said it was imperative the Island received the money as she dreaded to think how the situation would be like if they had not had it.
Sadly after the incompetent management at St Mary’s have created a department to handle the money manned by several grossly overpaid managers together with their deputies and clerical staff plus creating offices for them all there will be nothing left.
Great, isn’t it? Government starves health and care services for years, then generously hands out a pittance to supposedly resolve the problem it created.
Remember come General Election, voters!
And go back to how things were under Liebour?
No thank you.
Yeah I remember record spending on the NHS by Labour and much lower waiting times. But my memory is a bit hazy following 13 years of austerity, sleaze and broken Brexit promises.
I remember the disastrous Labour government of the 1970s before Maggie took over and put things right. Things may be bad now but they pale into comparison to what would happen if the socialists ever got back into power.
Whatever Starmer says, you can be sure Labour will look at closer ties with the corrupt EU, even to the extent of rejoining, negating all of the benefits we have seen from Brexit.
I’m voting conservative, and so should all good, patriotic, Britons. Its almost a traitorous act to do otherwise.
More care in the community is it supergramps? That really worked out well didn’t it?
“Maggie took over and put things right” – I missed that golden era, I’m afraid.
And things are so great under the Conservative government. What planet are you from ? There has been many governments who have failed in the last 50 years and that includes Tory.
The NHS was much better under labour, the waiting list came down significantly
Although this is a great plan, but would be good if the public could see an audit as to where money goes and how it was used, especially any monies given to the council. I would still like to know what happened to the millions awarded to the council to sort Coppin’s Bridge out ? Not the second handout from Government to ruin St Mary’s roundabout.. but am pretty sure that ruination did not cost the amount allocated !!
£13M doesn’t go very far when the Eurovia consortium is on the job. And don’t forget the consultant’s percentage.
‘The Trust has said, on average, there are now routinely 70 to 75 patients in St Mary’s Hospital in Newport that cannot leave’
First priority: Use some of the 2 million Pounds you’ve been given to order 75 extra beds.
Please, don’t waste it on extra managers or admin staff or anything else. Use it for what it’s intended, to ease the ‘bedblocking’ problem.
Based on the recent article in the Island Echo. Councillor Love, explained how they spent 1 million on only 3 clients. Can’t see this huge sum, lasting long.
Money to do what exactly? By the time they’ve appointed a so called team to put this brilliant plan into action, whatever that plan is! The money will have been spent on their wages. So these bed blockers aren’t going anywhere anytime soon then. Our amazing care system, hahaha! Can’t cope!!
As one of the “bed blockers” for several weeks from autumn 2022, the reason for my not being discharged was a lack of availability of care agency staff due to poor pay. The government should look into that aspect.
Regarding which party was / is best a looking after the NHS , I am old enough to remember when there were constant reports on national news of hospital wards being closed in the name of efficiency but was actually purely cost cutting. Which government? Conservative of course. They have been under mining it ever since.
They are entirely to blame for the current unrest among staff but I am sure that they will try to deflect the blame onto the staff.