Hospital chief calls for help as trust prepares for winter
The county's hospital chief wants places to be ready within four hours for those discharged, to ease pressure throughout winter.
Simon Wright, chief executive of Shrewsbury and Telford Hospitals NHS Trust, told the trust's board meeting that targets for discharge times requiring care home places or care packages should be the same as the four hour admission standard hospitals are subject to.
His comments were made during a discussion on the trust's preparedness for winter, where it was confirmed that it will put an extra 99 beds in place, but that it will cost £2.4 million to implement its plans.
The trust has received £1 million of the funding but is in discussions over the remaining £1.4 million.
A report on the plans had been presented by the trust's chief operations officer, Debbie Kadum on Thursday afternoon.
Mr Wright said: "In order to deliver the model that Debbie is describing we do need to make sure patients who do not need to be in hospital can leave when their need for acute treatment has ended."
The chief executive told the board that discussions had taken place with local councils over the need to ensure people are not unnecessarily taking up hospital beds.
He said: "The admission rate for hospitals is four hours from arrival and it needs to be the same when we get people to leave hospital."
Asked whether the trust is better prepared for winter than in previous years Doctor Edwin Borman, the trust's medical director, agreed, but added that making sure beds are not being used unnecessarily is vital.
He said: "I would agree we are more prepared than in previous years but again I would highlight concerns that we know there is work that can, must, and should be done in the trust that given the needs of our population group we absolutely need our partners externally to be working with us so these patients who do not need to be in hospital for clinical reasons must be given other places they can be looked after."
Under the winter plans a number of measures have been agreed to alleviate pressure on the hospitals.
They include a discharge lounge, which would free up beds and in-turn reduce trolley waits in the A&E departments.
Extra nursing staff is also being provided by local clinical commissioning groups to improve ambulance handover times, which have been some of the worst in the region.
