Buckinghamshire patients to be sent to former hotel from hospital

The former hotel will welcome its first patients on Monday

Hospital patients who are ready to be discharged but still need support are to be sent to a former hotel to free up space.

Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust said it was due to a rise in Covid-19 cases from the Omicron surge.

Olympic Lodge Hotel, in Stoke Mandeville, has been transformed into a rehabilitation facility, it added.

The temporary care facility would open to patients on Monday where "further support" would be given, it said.

The trust thanked the hotel staff and its partners at Buckinghamshire Council for their hard work

It has worked closely with Buckinghamshire Council on the plans and each patient will have their own room and a space where they can socialise.

The trust runs two NHS acute hospitals, Stoke Mandeville and Wycombe, and five community hospitals in Amersham, Buckingham, Chalfont St Peter, Marlow and Thame.

Jenny Ricketts, its director of community transformation, said: "When our patients no longer need to be in a hospital bed, it is better for their ongoing recovery to return to the comfort of their own home as soon as possible.

"This unit will provide a safe and suitable environment for patients to regain their confidence and independence."

It would provide some of the "extra capacity" the trust needed to get through the winter period, she added.