09.11.18
Worcestershire fire service and NHS trust team up to transport early discharge patients back home this winter
A Worcestershire trust and local fire service have joined forces to provide “an enhanced home from hospital” service to support early discharge patients back to their homes in the area.
In a board meeting taking place today, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust will discuss the collaboration with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire Service (H&WFS) to provide the six-month scheme, free of charge.
The partnership, which is already underway after beginning in October, would help to “expedite safe discharges before midday, seven days per week,” according to board papers.
In board papers released in September, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust said it would not have enough beds to cope this winter, and would need an increase of 208 more beds. Well-respected health director Dame Julie Moore was appointed as an associate non-executive director to the board last month.
The board papers wrote: “A proposal has been scoped with Herefordshire and Worcestershire Fire Service to provide an enhanced home from hospital service to support safe early discharge of patients who may need additional help to settle them back home.
“HWFS have agreed to provide a six-month service free of charge commencing from October 2018 which will enable us to identify the exact requirements of such a service in the future.”
The acute trust, which runs Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Kidderminster Hospital & Treatment Centre, and Alexandra Hospital, was placed into special measures by the CQC in 2015 and remains in the category after the inspectorate was ‘disappointed’ with progress of the trust in June.
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