The NHS and the Government has published a new two year plan help recover urgent and emergency care services, reduce waiting times, and improve the patient experience.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, has welcomed the announcement.
Nationally frontline capacity will be boosted further thanks to 800 new ambulances, including 100 specialist mental health vehicles, and 5,000 more sustainable hospital beds backed by a £1 billion dedicated fund.
Dr Neil Hudson, MP for Penrith and The Border, said:
“We all know that there are huge pressures on our NHS both here in Cumbria and across the UK. This ambitious announcement will cut waiting times dramatically giving people the peace of mind that they will be cared for when they need it. I’m delighted the Prime Minister has committed to more beds, more ambulances and more staff to cope.
“Emergency care is just the tip of the iceberg though and we face challenges across the NHS. That said, I’ve been heartened by the work being done locally on primary care and preventative medicine. CHoC’s provision of GPs in rural practices has been stellar in keeping practices open and available to people, wherever they live. And being able to keep local beds in Eden was a real win when I opened Penrith Hospital’s renovated inpatient ward following a £1.2 million Conservative Government upgrade.
“Of course, there is more to do, but stabilising the economy and restoring the faith of the British people, I know this Government can deliver.”
This two-year plan comes amid record demand for NHS services with the latest data showing more A&E attendances than ever before, growing numbers of the most serious ambulance call outs, and millions of NHS 111 calls a month over winter.
Urgent care provided in the community will be expanded to ensure people can get the care they need at home, without the need for a hospital admission. These services will run for at least 12 hours a day – responding to calls normally requiring an ambulance crew – and will mean people who have fallen or are injured can get care and treatment at home within two hours.
Same day emergency care units, staffed by consultants and nurses, will be open in every hospital with a major A&E, helping to transform patients’ experiences and allowing thousands of people each week to avoid an overnight hospital stay.
Freeing up space in hospitals and speeding up discharge for those who are medically fit to leave are key parts of the blueprint, which will see pilots of a new approach to NHS step down care across the country – where patients will receive rehabilitation and physiotherapy including at home.
This scheme will ensure people have a smooth transition out of hospital, reducing the chances of re-admission while also potentially reducing long term demand on social care.
One of Dr Hudson’s core campaigns is standing up for our public and local services. One core pillar of this is health and Dr Hudson has already pushed forward with innovative Primary Care Solutions alongside local not-for-profit healthcare provider CHoC; helped keep the Newton Rigg vaccine hub open; championed the Government’s Cumbrian NHS recruitment drive which is on target to hit manifesto commitments; and opened Penrith Hospital’s £1.2 million inpatient ward renovation following Conservative Government investment.
This coincides with an ambitious new health and care plan for North East and North Cumbria which aims to help people live longer and healthier lives by 2030. Launched today, the Better Health and Wellbeing for All strategy recognises the region's health challenges from lower life expectancy to some of the highest rates of child poverty in England and sets a series of demanding targets to improve lives.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said:
“Cutting NHS waiting times is one of my five priorities. Urgent and emergency care is facing serious challenges but we have an ambitious and credible plan to fix it.
“It will take time to get there but our plan will cut long waiting times by increasing the number of ambulances, staff and beds – stopping the bottlenecks outside A&E and making sure patients are seen and discharged quickly.
“If we meet this ambition, it will represent one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in emergency waiting times in NHS history. I am determined to deliver this so that families across the country can get the care they need.”
The NHS, local government and the social care sector will continue together to improve access to social care and ensure patients can be discharged safely and on time.
Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said:
“Every day of every week, tens of thousands of people receive safe, high quality urgent and emergency care. However, with the NHS under unprecedented pressure from high covid and flu cases and the backlog from the pandemic, too many people are waiting too long in A&E or for ambulances.
“Today’s plan, which is backed by record investment, aims to rapidly cut waiting times, helping to deliver on one of the government’s five priorities, while giving patients the confidence that health and social care services will be there for them when they need them.
“Building on the extensive preparations the NHS put in place ahead of this winter, the plan will boost the number of hospital beds, get more ambulances on the road, grow and support the workforce, ensure people are able to leave hospital in a timely way when ready, and expand new services in the community so people can be treated closer to home.”
NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard, said:
“The NHS has been under more pressure than I have ever known in my 25 years working in the service – the threat of the ‘twindemic’ of flu and covid became a reality and that was alongside huge demand for all services – from ambulance and A&E services to mental health and GP appointments.
“We are incredibly grateful to the NHS staff who work day-in, day-out to deliver care to hundreds of thousands of people and for the extensive preparations put in place ahead of winter.
“We introduced more call handlers, more beds and 24/7 system control centres to manage increased demand, and this new plan sets out how we will boost that progress and help improve the experiences of patients who will benefit from quicker, better care, in the right setting.
“The front door to the NHS is often where we can see the pressures build up – and to relieve that pressure, we will continue to work with social care colleagues to free up space in hospitals so that people who are well enough to leave can be discharged and get the care they need at home or in the community.
“The history of the NHS is one of change and innovation and so, while striving to meet the needs of today’s patients, we are also looking to the future of the NHS and will shortly set out our workforce plan – which is a once in a generation opportunity to put the NHS on a sustainable footing.”
For more information about the national plan to recover urgent and emergency care, visit: www.england.nhs.uk/publication/delivery-plan-for-recovering-urgent-and-emergency-care-services
For more information about the new health and care plan for North East and North Cumbria, visit: www.ncic.nhs.uk/news/longer-and-healthier-lives-ambitious-new-health-and-care-plan-north-east-and-north-cumbria
