Plans to prepare the NHS for winter pressures by rapidly boosting capacity and resilience will include increasing bed availability and staff numbers ahead of the busy winter period.
For the first time this year services are expected to experience the combined pressure of Covid and Flu. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS National Medical Director says: “It is right that we prepare as early as we can for the additional demand that we know we will face.”
Health and Social Care Secretary, Stephen Barclay has already admitted that this could be a “challenging winter,” and says: “I am working closely with the NHS at pace to ensure we are ready for the pressures ahead. By increasing capacity, boosting NHS 111 and 999 support, tackling delayed discharge and using new innovations such as virtual wards, we can help patients get the care they need, when they need it.”
The Health Secretary has also launched a taskforce to drive up the recruitment of international staff into critical roles across the system.
Health chiefs plan to create the equivalent of 7,000 more beds through a mixture of new hospital beds, ‘virtual ward’ spaces and initiatives to improve patient flow over the coming months. More call handlers will also be recruited, boosting numbers to at least 4,800 working in 111 and 2,500 in 999 call rooms to deal with higher demand.
Additional capacity in the 999 system will help staff meet record demand, with a live 999 call answer dashboard and a target to answer calls in an average of 10 seconds.
Having a national health service means that hospitals can continue to use mutual aid throughout the winter including through NHS 111 services, which will work to improve response times by automatically diverting calls between Trusts to improve call waits for patients.
With the latest stats showing only 40% of patients were able to leave hospital when they were ready to in July, the package of measures will also see the NHS working more closely with social care services to ensure that people receive the care and support they need as quickly as possible in order to be able to leave hospital safely, and to stay well in their homes and communities.
Extensive planning is already underway for an autumn COVID-19 booster programme as well as the annual flu campaign so that those most at risk can get protected ahead of winter.
Other measures are aimed at creating resilience in out of hospital services, including mental health and GP services.
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, says: “Staff are already under pressure with continued high demand for our services – with figures showing the busiest summer ever for NHS emergency departments, with 2.18 million A&E attendances and almost 900,000 999 calls answered in June, and in July the highest number of category 1 ambulance callouts since records began.
“Ahead of the winter, we want to make sure we are doing everything we possibly can to free up capacity so that staff can ensure patients get the care they need – this includes timely discharge, working with social care, and better support in the community with the expansion of virtual wards.”
“We are also making the most of the advantages that a national health service provides – hospitals will be working closely together to ensure patients can be seen anywhere in the country and to speed up call times when patients call 111.
“As ever, it is vital that the public continues to use NHS services in the usual way including using 999 in an emergency and using NHS 111 online for other health issues.
“And when the time comes, book in for your Covid and flu vaccines if you are eligible.”
