Stepping Hill is to get a £1.5million boost to ease winter pressure on the A&E unit.
The extra funding will go towards flu vaccination to help avoid flu-related A & E visits and improvement of all NHS services & NHS 111 to prevent avoidable A&E visits this winter.
Commenting, Andrew Stunell MP said:
“Stepping Hill has been under huge pressure with rising numbers treating A+E as a drop-in centre. During the winter there are always far more serious cases, and this money will help keep children and older people healthy, and provide more capacity to deal with those who really do need hospital help. It is a very worthwhile way to target extra money at our NHS.”
Across England admissions to A&E departments has risen by 32 per cent in the past decade, with an extra one million visits by patients last year. As a result Stepping Hill was one of several NW hospitals to get a black mark for long delays in treating A+E patients.
The new money will be awarded provided the NHS Trust ensures that at least 75 per cent of its own staff have been vaccinated against the flu this year; it will then go towards a flu vaccination programme for children between two and three years old, to reduce potential spread of the disease.
Across the UK, an additional £250 million has been added to the budget and will provide:
- £62 million for additional capacity in hospitals – for example extra consultant A&E cover over the weekend so patients with complex needs will continue to get high-quality care;
- £57 million for community services – for example better community end of life care and hospices;
- £51 million for improving the urgent care services – for example for patients with long-term conditions;
- £25 million for primary care services – for examples district nursing, to provide care for patients in their home, preventing them from being admitted to A&E;
- £16 million for social care – for example integrating health and social care teams to help discharge elderly patients earlier and prevent readmission and;
- £9 million for other measures – for example to help the ambulance service and hospitals work better together.
£15 million of this money will also be spent on NHS 111 – to increase the number of clinicians and call handlers so that non-emergency visits to A&E can be avoided.