Health officials reveal how £21.4 m funding will help Shropshire's NHS through the winter

Earlier this week the Government confirmed that NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin would be given £21.4m as part of the national Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery plan.

The move will create a total of 52 beds across the county's emergency hospitals – 32 at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH), and 20 at Princess Royal Hospital in Telford (PRH).

Dr Nick White, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin, has now explained what the beds will be used for – saying they will provide for a type of care not currently offered in the county's NHS.

It will be used to create 'sub acute and rehabilition wards', to look after patients who have finished major treatment but still need rehabilitation before they are able to leave hospital.

It is hope that the beds will free up spaces at the hospitals, which in turn will reduce pressure on A&E and the ambulance service, which has faced frequent long waits to hand over patients at both RSH and PRH, preventing crews getting back on the road to help other patients.

Dr White said: "We are delighted to announce that we have received approval from NHS England to access the Additional Capacity Targeted Investment Fund to build two sub-acute and rehabilitation wards at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) across their two hospital sites.

"One at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital which will hold 32 beds, and the other at the Princess Royal Hospital, Telford which will hold 20 beds.

"The purpose of the wards will be to provide appropriate sub-acute capacity, that currently does not exist within the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin system.

"Sub-acute care services are provided on an inpatient basis for those individuals who have already completed acute treatment, but still need rehabilitation therapy. This will help alleviate the pressure experienced in the acute hospitals which are seen particularly within the winter months.

"The aim of the new sub-acute and rehabilitation wards is to reduce ambulance handover delays; emergency department overcrowding; and facilitate a timely discharge, creating a seamless flow through acute and community care for people who cannot be supported safely in their own home, but do not need to remain in an acute hospital bed.

"It also means the impact on inpatient beds set aside for patients recovering from elective operations will be reduced, resulting in fewer delays for patients waiting for their operations due to winter pressures.

"The 52-bed inpatient facility will be delivered through a skills compliment of nursing, therapy, pharmacy and support staff, with medical clinical oversight provided by consultant, junior doctors, and physicians associate, with rapid access to acute hospital facilities should a patient deteriorate.

"In preparation for the new sub-acute and rehabilitation wards, we are in the process of developing a recruitment strategy to plan and secure the range of staff we will need."

Ludlow's Conservative MP, Philip Dunne, has welcomed the funding, saying: "I am very pleased the government is investing more money in Shropshire’s NHS, providing an additional 52 beds for our hospitals in Telford and Shrewsbury.

"This is a welcome boost to capacity as we look to get waiting lists down, and prepare for the winter ahead."

However, Dr Julia Buckley, the leader of Shropshire Council's Labour Group, said that while the funding was welcome, a longer-term solution is needed to the county's NHS issues.

She said: "While I join the other local political leaders in welcoming the £21.4m for 52 additional hospital beds in Shropshire, unfortunately this still doesn’t offer us any long term solutions to the NHS crisis.

"Nationally the Government has announced a total of 900 hospital beds, but this represents just seven per cent of of the 12,000 beds they have cut since 2010. Its a sticking plaster that is nowhere near the fundamental reform and investment that the NHS needs.

"Once again Shropshire ICB is being offered a short-term pot of money. Whereas what the NHS needs, locally and nationally, is serious long-term investment.

"And there's another very practical problem, of course. The NHS has a 10 per cent vacancy rate now, after 13 years of Conservative mismanagement and low wages.

"Money for a few more beds locally is great, but recruiting nurses to provide care for the patients who will use them – that's going to be a major challenge, and one we have been grappling with now for several years in our local hospitals.

"We will need reassurance on all these aspects in order to fully appreciate the benefit of this targeted funding for our patients.

"I join the Royal College of Nursing in expressing concern that bed investment must be matched with staff investment. Our NHS staff are our most precious resource and they should treated as such, to retain the talent and skill in the workforce."