Hospitals get more beds to cope with winter demand

The trust has commissioned extra beds for the winter

An NHS trust has ordered extra beds to cope with the winter demand.

County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust said it had ordered 28 additional beds for Bishop Auckland Hospital and 13 extra surge beds for Darlington Memorial Hospital.

Trust chief executive Sue Jacques said the beds would allow staff to anticipate and respond to volatile changes in demand.

She also told a county council meeting that in recent years the trust had introduced new services such as same-day emergency care which was critical for "turning patients around fairly quickly".

"They can treat patients with fairly minor ailments that A&E can’t and we’re looking to optimise those," she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Other priorities this winter include improving ambulance handover times, emergency department waiting times and hospital discharges, she said.

Ms Jacques added: "Demand for services is unpredictable.

"Sometimes things like flu run around our communities but we are aware of that and have the ability to respond to it."