Maria Caulfield, Member of Parliament for Lewes, has welcomed the news that Sussex has been chosen as one of the six areas of the country that will benefit from a trial of new innovative solutions to free up hospital beds.
This new initiative launched today, Monday 9th January, will see Sussex NHS health services trialling a new data tool to help services manage performance, give operational oversight and manage demand.
Sussex is one of six areas exploring new ideas to free up hospital beds and make sure patients get the right care at the right time – key to reducing future urgent and emergency care delays and help getting ambulances back on the roads quicker.
Maria Caulfield MP said:
“I am very pleased to see this trial locally that helps to free up hospital beds.
It is great to see that Sussex has been selected as one of six national discharge front runners to help free up hospital beds.
As a nurse I see first-hand the struggle and pressure that is on those working in the NHS and I know this trial will be very welcome . Whether it is ambulance delays, crowded A&Es or shortages of hospital beds, getting people home more quickly from hospital will improve our local health service immeasurably."
Minister for Care Helen Whately said:
“Getting people out of hospital on time is more important than ever. It’s good for patients and it helps hospitals make space for those who need urgent care.
We’re launching six Discharge Frontrunners to lead the way with innovations to help get people out of hospital and back home. Winter is always hard for the NHS and social care, and this year especially with flu in high circulation. That’s why we provided the £500million Discharge Fund earlier in the winter.
“As well as helping people right now, we’re looking ahead to make our health and care system work better next winter and beyond. These problems are not new but now is the time to fix them for the future.”
In total, up to £14.1 billion additional funding will be invested by government over the next two years to improve urgent and emergency care and tackle the backlog – the highest spend on health and care in any government’s history. £7.5 billion of this support is for adult social care and discharge over the next two years which will also help deal with immediate pressures.