£395,000 to improve emergency care in D&G.
The Scottish Government has welcomed plans from NHS Dumfries & Galloway to manage the additional demands of winter.
NHS Dumfries & Galloway has received almost £395,000 in funding from the Scottish Government to carry out this work.
This allocation is part of a wider investment of £28.2 million across Scotland. This includes £10 million invested in the Winter Resilience Fund, £8.2 million from the Unscheduled Care Action Plan fund to improve the way emergency care operates within hospitals, as well as £10 million to tackle bed blocking in wards.
The central allocations have been targeted to focus spend on patient flow issues both within hospitals and wider health and social care settings.
NHS Dumfries & Galloway will use the funding to:
• Roll out an information campaign on appropriate usage of the emergency department.
• Increase nurse staffing for surge beds over the winter period. Recruitment for this is now complete.
• Increase nursing resource in the Acute Medical Unit
• Ensure that a multi-professional team is available at the weekend over winter to support decision making and weekend discharges
• Work with partners in the Local Authority, the third and independent sector to find innovative ways to address delayed discharges
This will aim to ease pressures across the system, including reducing waiting times in A&E.
Health Secretary Shona Robison said: “I welcome this commitment from NHS Dumfries & Galloway to cope with extra demands at this time of year.
“Winter brings additional pressures for the health service, and NHS Dumfries & Galloway will use this funding to ensure preparations are in place.
“While people can help ease the strain by stocking up their medicine cabinet, getting a free vaccination if at risk of flu and knowing when their GP surgery is closed, the NHS still needs to play its part in preparing for whatever winter might bring.
“In October we announced that an additional £8.2 million from the Unscheduled Care Action Plan fund was to be spent improving the way emergency care operates within hospitals. This is part of our three-year £50 million commitment to help boards make changes to their unscheduled care. This money is now being used to improve how our NHS runs and ensure people are seen quickly and treated effectively.
“We have also committed £10 million to tackle delayed discharge, which will aim to improve patient flow through hospital and this month invested a further £10 million in the Winter Resilience Fund which will help health boards with seasonal pressures.
“This announcement today by NHS Dumfries & Galloway will build on the work being carried out across Scotland this winter to make sure Scotland’s NHS is well prepared to maintain the high standards that patients deserve.”
In addition, all boards have been issued guidance outlining how they can prepare effectively for winter. These measures include:
• Having robust plans in place in the event of severe weather
• Reducing the number of delayed discharges by working with local authorities
• Scheduling planned treatment well in advance
• Vaccinating as many NHS staff as possible against flu
• Ensuring appropriate out of hours cover, particularly over the festive period.
Julie White, Chief Operating Officer from NHS Dumfries & Galloway said:
“NHS Dumfries and Galloway has worked closely with our partners in the Local Authority to ensure that we have robust plans in place to manage the additional demands that are placed on our system over the winter. This has meant additional investment in staffing to support increased bed capacity over the busiest months of the year.
“We have also ensured that staff are available from both health and social work in the hospital over the weekends to support discharges. In addition, our plans include proposals involving the Third and Independent sector to support people in their own homes and to facilitate discharge from hospital without unnecessary delay by, for example, working with the Royal Voluntary Service on transport solutions.”
Background
NHS Dumfries & Galloway has received £152,000 to tackled delayed discharge, as well as £242,727 from the Unscheduled Care Action Plan fund, bringing the total to £394,727.
Full list of measures being undertaken by the health board include:
• Communication strategy for appropriate use of the Emergency Department – ‘Meet ED advert’ now live. Finalising supporting materials to inform people on appropriate usage of the Emergency Department
• Established group with oversight of delayed discharges – regular meetings of partnerships regarding delayed discharges to proactively manage issues within complex discharges
• Increased nurse staffing for surge beds over winter period – recruitment underway – and increased nursing resource in the Acute Medical Unit
• Developing single capacity management team 24/7 – interviews taken place and roster agreed (complete by December)
• Team available at the weekend to support decision making and weekend discharges – for 3 months from November, and Increased daily rounds by Senior Decision Makers
This week the Scottish Government announced an additional £10 million which is being invested in the Winter Resilience Fund to support health boards address seasonal pressures.
This is in addition to the Scottish Government’s three-year £50 million commitment to help boards make changes to their unscheduled care. The Unscheduled Care Action Plan fund is now being used to improve how our NHS runs and ensure people are seen quickly and treated effectively.
The Scottish Government has also committed £10 million to tackle delayed discharge, with £5 million being announced in August, and an additional £5 million confirmed by the First Minister as part of the Programme for Government in November.
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