Campaigner says £40m urgent care funding is 'nowhere near enough'

The government has allocated £40m to be shared among selected councils to help their urgent and emergency care

Money being given to councils to help emergency care throughout the winter is "nowhere near enough", a health campaigner has said.

The government has allocated £40m to be shared among selected councils to help their urgent and emergency care.

Staffordshire County Council has received £1,661,796  as part of the funding allocation.

However, Staffordshire campaigner Ian Syme said the funding is "just a drop in the ocean".

The funding has been given to councils identified by NHS England as having the greatest challenges with urgent and emergency care.

The money is to be used to speed up hospital discharge, boost social care provision, and prevent avoidable hospital admissions.

Mr Syme said the funding was "nowhere near enough", particularly during the winter surge.

"Any extra monies are welcome, but quite frankly it's just a drop in the ocean," he said.

"Over the last four years, the Royal Stoke University Hospital has been struggling with turning ambulances around. It just doesn't serve the locality of north Staffordshire.

"One of the problems is, it's not necessarily that beds aren't available, but that people can't be discharged into the community.

"There are no services there for them or they have to wait."

Addressing the £40m in funding, Minister of State for Care, Helen Whately, said: "We know winter will be challenging, which is why we started preparing earlier than ever before so people get the care they need."

The funding is in addition to £200m announced in September 2023 to boost resilience in the NHS.

The councils receiving funding include:

• Herefordshire Council, which has received £413,161 

• Shropshire Council, which has received  £653,945 

• Staffordshire  County Council, which has received £1,661,796 

• Stoke-on-Trent City Council, which has received £624,890 

• Telford and Wrekin Council, which has received £363,277 

• Worcestershire County Council, which  has received £1,118,803