Rochdale NHS Trust to look at ‘innovative’ ways to discharge patients

The NHS trust which runs Rochdale Infirmary is to trial specialised dementia hubs to help speed up hospital discharge and reduce pressure on the NHS.

Northern Care Alliance (NCA) will be trialling specialised dementia hubs to support people who have a greater chance of readmission as part of a £200 million government plan.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay announced on Monday that local areas backed by the new funding will buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings to help discharge more patients who are fit to leave hospital and free up hospital beds for those who need them.

The NCA was announced as one of six ‘discharge frontrunners’ to explore new long-term initiatives to free up hospital beds.

Owen Williams, chief executive of Northern Care Alliance Foundation Trust said “This is great news for the populations we serve, and for our health and social care staff who are working hard to provide the best care they can.

“Being one of the frontrunners allows us to test some new ways of working which our staff have told us will deliver better patient care.

“As part of this work, we can try out these innovations and where successful we can share them with other health and social care systems ”

Steve Rumbelow, Place Lead for Rochdale said  “Our health and social care teams in Rochdale have been at the forefront of integration, we are now working with our neighbours in Bury, Oldham and Salford to share good practice and most importantly provide joined up care regardless of where people are admitted to hospital and where they live”

Its dementia hub plan hopes to help patients move out of hospital more quickly whilst providing continuity of care.

Prolonged stays in a hospital bed can contribute to poorer outcomes, particularly for older people, with increased muscle loss making rehabilitation harder, as well as the ongoing risk of exposure to infections and the impact on mental health.

These delays also have a knock-on impact for other people, including those awaiting elective care and those needing urgent medical treatment.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: “The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid and flu, and on top of tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, Strep A and upcoming strikes, this winter poses an extreme challenge.

“I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on the health service, including investing an additional £200 million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital and free up hospital capacity, on top of the £500 million we’ve already invested to tackle this issue.

“In addition, we are trialling six National Discharge Frontrunners – innovative, quick solutions which could reduce discharge delays, moving patients from hospital to home more quickly.”