WIREDGOV

Dedicated hub set up through £50m action plan.

A new dedicated discharge hub is helping to reduce delays for patients waiting in hospital to go home.

The unit, which has been put in place through the Scottish Government’s £50 million emergency care action plan, is helping the hospital to cope with increased demand over the winter period.

The team, which was set up in August at Victoria Hospital in NHS Fife, is working with wards throughout the hospital to ensure patients have the support they need to return home.

It has seen 80 per cent of patients discharged within one week of being referred.

Health Secretary Alex Neil visited the unit yesterday (Wednesday), where he met with staff and patient May Saunderson who is already benefitting from the new approach.

Mr Neil said:

“NHS boards have to be ready to manage potential increases in demand over the winter period and last year we saw increased pressures on our hospitals in the peak of winter.

“That is why we introduced our three year £50 million emergency care action plan, so that health boards can put in place a number of new measures to ensure we can cope with the added strain that winter can bring.

“Over £9 million of this money has already been released to health boards to support their planning, which is triple the amount given to boards for winter planning last year.

“The discharge hub in Fife is a fantastic example of how health boards have made real changes that are benefitting patients.

“This approach is reaping benefits for patients in reducing the amount of time they have to wait in hospital before being discharged, and I was delighted to have the opportunity to meet with one of the patients who was about to return home from hospital.

“Thanks to improvements made through the action plan, I am encouraged that so far this winter NHS Boards are reporting they are coping much better and that performance in particular in A&E stood up well over the Christmas period.

“However, January has brought additional pressures for the health service, and there is not a shred of complacency either in Government or across the NHS. I remain very much aware that the worst of winter pressures could yet be to come and we are continuing to work closely with boards to meet challenges as they arise.”

Mr Neil has also provided detail on some NHS statistics, which are part of regular monitoring on how the health service is performing this year.

These include:

May Saunderson from Dysart is benefitting from the new discharge hub at Victoria Hospital.

Speaking to the Health Secretary, she said: “I was so unwell over Christmas that and I thought that I might never be well enough to go home. The nurses, consultants and especially my oncologist all went above and beyond their duty to care for me and I cannot thank them enough.

“The process of being discharged home has been so quick and easy and it is reassuring for my family and I that when I return home there will be a care package in place to give me the support I need."

NHS Fife Associate Medical for Acute Services, Dr Gordon Birnie said: “The creation of the discharge hub has meant that the co-ordination of each discharge is planned from a single site, combining the collective experience of the acute and community health service with that of our colleagues in social care.

“This has proven to be highly effective in improving patient flow, benefitting patients across the whole hospital system. Patients can be discharged at the most appropriate time with the support they require to aid their recovery.

“The concentration of these skills and processes within the hub releases time on the wards for staff to care for patients.’’