Moorlands MP, Karen Bradley has welcomed £3,936,000 of Government funding for NHS services in Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to help discharge patients more quickly when they are ready to leave hospital.
The funding is a share of a £200m national investment that will be used to buy beds, step-down facilities, and care support for hospital patients being discharged.
The Royal Stoke and other local hospitals are under intense winter pressure and these funds, which have been received by the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board, will free up hospital beds as well as improve safety for patients in hospital beds and those waiting to access them.
Commenting Karen said:
"I have had meetings with the CEO of the Royal Stoke, together with neighbouring MPs and know just how much pressure they have been under recently. I am pleased that the Government has listened to our concerns, this £3.9m is very welcome news indeed and will help provide some much needed support to our local NHS.”
Health Secretary Steve Barclay MP said:
"There’s no question it has been an extraordinarily difficult time for everyone in health and care. It is clear we need to do more right now in light of the level of Covid and flu rates and given hospital occupancy remains far too high and emergency departments too congested.
“Today’s announcement provides a further £250 million of funding which recognises that the spike in flu on top of Covid admissions, on top of high delayed discharge numbers from the pandemic, will provide immediate support to reduce hospital bed occupancy and decompress A&E pressure and in turn, unlocking much-needed ambulance handovers."
