BCP Council raise concerns over £200m NHS discharge grant

Cabinet member for people and homes Cllr Karen Rampton has said the government should “stop thinking that pots of crisis funding are the solution” after £200 million was made available to help discharge patients who are fit to leave hospital.

As announced on January 9, the government is making available up to £200 million of additional funding to buy short-term care placements to allow people to be discharged safely from hospitals into the community.

The move is intended to free up hospital beds so people can be admitted more quickly from A&E to wards.

Royal Bournemouth Hospital

There are currently around 13,000 people occupying hospital beds in England who are fit to be discharged.

Early examples of this are happening locally, with University Hospitals Dorset securing a number of extra care home beds before Christmas to support discharge for appropriate patients whose hospital care has finished.

• Read more: NHS Dorset receives £2.8m to ease pressure on hospitals

A spokesperson said: “These have enabled around 60 more patients to be discharged from our hospitals who otherwise would not have been. We’re also encouraging the public to consider how they may be able to support a loved one to leave hospital when they are ready to.”

Cllr Rampton echoed this, feeling the government’s position should be ‘home first’ care to avoid overworking care homes.

Cllr Karen Rampton (Image: BCP Council)

She said: “We welcome additional funding, but it comes very late. The best place for most people leaving hospital is their own home, with the appropriate support in the community that they need to recover and therefore use of the funding should be guided by the ‘home first’ principle, rather than the default being that people are discharged into care homes.

“Otherwise, we run the risk of people being inappropriately placed and then remaining in residential provision indefinitely.

“The government must recognise that long-term, sustainable investment is needed in community-based care and support and for family carers and stop thinking that pots of crisis funding are the solution.

“We want to enable people to remain independent and healthy in their own homes for as long as possible and to recover there after a spell in hospital.”