NHS announces winter measures to expand capacity and speed up discharge  

The NHS has today set out a new package of measures designed to ensure the health service can cope with the rising pressure expected this winter.

The health service is bracing itself for high levels of respiratory illness this winter, including Covid, flu and RSV. This comes following reports that Australia (whose activity often predicts what the NHS in England is likely to see in winter) is experiencing one of the biggest flu seasons on record with children particularly affected, making up four in five of flu-related hospital admissions.

The package of measures aims to expand capacity so that hospitals are able to treat more patients, speed up discharge rates, and offer more care in the community.

Under the plans, there will be:

• 5,000 additional ‘core’ permanent general and acute beds, bringing the total number to 99,000 core beds by December 2023
• Hundreds of new virtual ward beds each month, with overall numbers expected to reach 10,000 by the end of September
• Over 800 new ambulances, which will deliver over a million more ambulance road hours and improve response time.

A focus on discharging patients and treating respiratory viruses

The government is also expanding a scheme which aims to speed up discharge decisions.

Every day, more than 12,000 patients remain stuck in hospital despite being medically well enough to leave. Under these new plans, it is expected a third of these patients could be discharged by December.

The scheme involves a nationwide rollout of ‘care traffic control’ centres. These centres will put staff from NHS, social care, housing, and voluntary services all in one place, to locate and co-ordinate the best and quickest discharge options for patients – either at home or into social or community care.

Currently, around a quarter of local areas already offer this service, and this is set to be expanded to every area of the country by winter.

The government also plans to create Acute Respiratory Hubs in every area of the country. These hubs will offer urgent same-day face-to-face assessment for conditions like Covid, flu and RSV.

Last winter, when first introduced, almost 730,000 patients used these services, helping to speed up access to care and advice while reducing wider system pressures.

“A timely opportunity to prepare for what will likely be an extremely challenging winter”

Dr Vin Diwakar, NHS medical director for transformation, says together, these new measures will improve care for patients and reduce pressure on hardworking staff.

“The rapid expansion of ‘care traffic control’ centres, means patients can be more easily discharged with the right support when medically fit to leave hospital with the latest information available to staff in one spot – this is both better for patients and for the NHS.

“Boosting the numbers of specialist hubs for patients with respiratory problems means patients can get seen quickly in their local community while also relieving pressure on hospitals.

“So while we know this winter is going to be a difficult one, it is important that the public play their part by using services in the usual way – using 999 in an emergency and primary care or 111 online for other health conditions,” he said.

The NHS Confederation has also welcomed the plans, and chief executive Matthew Taylor says health leaders will be “grateful for the clarity this plan provides”.

“The plan is based on sound evidence of what works, backed by data and learning from the last few winters. Its publication now, in summer, will give the health service a timely opportunity to prepare for what will likely be an extremely challenging winter,” he said.