WGPlus (Archive)
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The CEs of NHS England & NHS Improvement have set out the plans which will help to free up thousands of hospital beds and ease pressures next winter. Shorter stays will benefit patients who would otherwise be stuck in hospital when they are well enough to leave as well as freeing up beds for those who are sicker. Many older people, particularly those who are frail and may have dementia, actually deteriorate while in hospital – a stay of more than 10 days leads to 10 years’ muscle ageing for people most at risk. Nearly 350,000 patients spend more than 3 weeks in a hospital each year. That is around a fifth of beds, or the equivalent of 36 hospitals. Some patients need to be there for medical reasons but many do not. The NHS, working with local authorities, aims to reduce the number of long staying patients by around a quarter, freeing up more than 4,000 beds in time for the winter surge. |
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NHS England: NHS launches plan to improve patient care by cutting long hospital stays NHS Confed: Winter crisis is now year-long crisis, suggests new report WAG; Use them (muscles) or lose them! Care shouldn’t end at the hospital exit Would a policy of ‘no co-operation with the private sector’ be sensible? Something for IPSIS to start with! But are the NHS & LAs flexible enough to make the necessary changes to service delivery? |
