Care providers in Suffolk have welcomed Government plans to buy thousands of extra beds in care homes at a cost of £200m, but would like to know more about the proposals.
Representatives of the Suffolk Association of Independent Care Providers and social care companies Healthcare Homes and Kingsley Healthcare, which run care homes in the county, wanted to know whether long-term care would be funded.
The Government has announced the funding in a bid to relieve the pressure on hospitals and speed up hospital discharge, with patients fit enough to leave hospital taking up beds that could be provided to those who need them.
Around one in eight hospital beds nationally are occupied by people well enough to be discharged.
The funding will pay for maximum stays of up to four weeks per patient, with integrated care boards, responsible for arranging health services in local areas, booking beds appropriate to a patient’s needs.
Martin Kirkup, marketing and sales director at Healthcare Homes, which has 13 homes in Suffolk, said it was unclear how long the money would be there for and whether local authorities or relatives would have to pick up the bill for longer term care.
In addition, discharged patients may have different means to pay, with some being able to fund their own care.
Nevertheless, Mr Kirkup said there was capacity within Healthcare Homes' properties to provide places for patients.
He added that there was space for 200 people at the 48 homes run by Healthcare Homes across England.
"Absolutely we welcome it in the sense that we want to do what we can because we believe that the right place for somebody to be if they are convalescing through illness or injury is in an appropriate setting," Mr Kirkup said.
Kingsley Healthcare was started in 1999 with one care home in Lowestoft and has since grown to 34 homes across the country, employing nearly 2,000 staff and caring for 1,400 residents.
Georgina Johnston, the firm’s regional operations director, said: “We applaud the government’s attempt to find a joined-up approach.
“Easing the pressures on our hospitals is vitally important. Moreover, if someone does not need to be in hospital, a care home is a far more supportive environment.
“We are currently in discussion with authorities to see if any of our East Anglia homes are able to engage with the scheme.”
Prema Fairburn-Dorai, chair of Suffolk Association of Independent Care Providers, was also supportive, although she was concerned that there needed to be sufficient staff to be able to care for the discharged patients.
She added there was a fear within the care home sector that the money was going to be used to facilitate the admission of people with a "whole variety of problems" into care homes, which would not be able to cope.
She said: "I think the funding will help, but there are a variety of care settings they are looking at.
"The care home element will be for those who really need that level of care, but I think what they are trying to create is a small reablement hub in care homes to get them to have some kind of therapy to get them fixed so they can go back home."
Figures from the NHS show that on January 8, at Ipswich and Colchester hospitals, run by East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, 1,224 of the 1,264 beds available for general and acute patients were occupied.
Six of these beds were unavailable to non-Covid admissions.
Meanwhile, at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, on January 8, 416 out of 452 general and acute beds were occupied, with seven unavailable to non-Covid admissions.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said the Government funding would last "until it ran out" and anticipated the new care home places would enable 3,000 people to be discharged from hospitals across England.
Health and Social Care secretary Steve Barclay, said: “The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid-19 and flu and on top of tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, strep A and upcoming strikes, this winter poses an extreme challenge.
“I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on the health service, including investing an additional £200million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital and free up hospital capacity, on top of the £500million we’ve already invested to tackle this issue.”
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