Bath hospital gets £1.66m extra for emergency care

The Royal United Hospital provides care to a catchment population of 500,000 people

Bath's Royal United Hospital (RUH) is to get £1.66m in extra funding for emergency care.

Two clinical commissioning groups agreed the funding after hearing the RUH had a difficult winter with severe pressure on its emergency department.

The hospital announced plans in May to take on five extra consultants for the same reason.

The extra funding will allow the RUH to increase the number of nurses and doctors working at the busiest times.

'Strong position'

Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) will invest £940,000, and Bath and North East Somerset CCG agreed to invest £660,000.

The money will be used to support the hospital's emergency department and the way emergency patients are treated within the hospital so that it is in a strong position before next winter.

Dr Simon Douglass, of the CCG, said: "We know how difficult last winter was for the RUH and we believe that by releasing this additional money, it can address a number of areas that will improve waiting times for patients and access to high quality care across seven days."

The funding has previously been available but, under national rules, was not paid to providers upfront. It was instead used for schemes to support the urgent care system.

The hospital trust provides 565 beds to a catchment population of 500,000 covering Bath and the surrounding towns and villages in North East Somerset and Western Wiltshire.