The record number of cases at our A&E departments have put a great deal of strain on NHS services as we come out of the pandemic, with urgent care and emergency services bearing the brunt of the pressure. This is why I am pleased to announce that East Worthing and Shoreham will benefit from the Government’s new Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan to help recover urgent and emergency care services, reduce waiting times, and improve the patient experience.
Thanks to this recently unveiled plan, frontline capacity will be boosted by 800 new ambulances, including 100 specialist mental health vehicles, and 5,000 more sustainable hospital beds backed by a £1 billion dedicated fund.
Same day emergency care units, staffed by consultants and nurses, will be open in every hospital with a major A&E to provide immediate care and allow thousands of patients each week to avoid an overnight hospital stay.
Urgent care services in the community will be expanded, meaning people can get help at home without needing to visit a hospital. These services will be available for up to 12 hours a day, responding to calls normally requiring an ambulance, and will mean people who have fallen or are injured can get care and treatment at home within two hours..
“Virtual wards,” which allows patients to receive high quality virtual care in their own home, are also set to expand and are expected to provide care for over 50,000 patients a month by the end of 2023/24.
There are also changes aimed at growing and better supporting the workforce, including greater flexibility for NHS workers and the onboarding of additional emergency medical technicians. The scheme will also provide additional entry routes to working in the NHS, alongside greater use of student and apprentice paramedics and training more staff in mental health.
The two-year plan aims to stabilise services to meet the NHS’s two major recovery ambitions: to help achieve A&E four-hour performance of 76% by March 2024; and improve category two ambulance response times to an average of 30 minutes over the next year, with further improvement in the following year.
You can find out more detail about the new plan on the NHS website - https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/delivery-plan-for-recovering-urg…
