Isle of Wight awarded £2m to help discharge bed-blockers

The Isle of Wight has received almost £2m from the government to address the current system pressures

The Isle of Wight has received almost £2m to help discharge hospital patients who are well enough to go home.

The government has released the money, as part of a £500m scheme, in a bid to ease pressure on hospitals amid a so-called "bed blocking" crisis.

The problem has caused the Isle of Wight (IOW) NHS Trust to declare a near two-month long critical incident and an inability to admit patients.

In December, there were 13,000 people stuck in hospitals across England.

On Thursday, the trust said there were routinely an average of 70 to 75 patients in St Mary's Hospital in Newport who were medically fit but who could not leave.

It has now received £1,937,811 from the Adult Social Care Discharge Fund, released by the Department of Health and Social Care, to tackle the problem the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

The money has been split between the Isle of Wight Council and the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Integrated Care Board (ICB).

LDRS said 10 schemes had been highlighted to receive funding, including:

• Additional home care capacity for the council's outreach team - expected to help 30 people

• Additional money to the Bluebell House Residential Care Home as a step down facility - estimated to help 70 people

• A new nurse-led community unit for patients, with the potential to help 144 people

• Another community day hub on the south of the island to support hospital discharge, with the ability to help eight patients a day, seven days a week

• Enhanced current telehealth equipment

• Use of the national scheme - offering enhanced rates to all care providers to maximise their facilities

• Increased use of agency staff to extend the capacity of the discharge team

Darren Cattell, the IOW NHS Trust's chief executive, told the island's health and wellbeing board the trust had benefitted significantly from the additional funding, even if it was temporary.

Last month, a shortage of adult care places on the island led to the council spending £1.9m after sending 21 patients to mainland care facilities.