Norfolk patient group says waiting lists must be tackled quickly
It comes as data shows hospitals in the East now have the lowest daily average of patients unable to leave hospital, despite being declared fit
Last updated 8th Nov 2023
A patient group from Norfolk is telling us time, attention and funding needs to be put into tackling waiting lists for care and treatment.
This comes as NHS England data shows that hospitals in the East now have the lowest daily average of patients unable to leave hospital- despite being declared fit.
IT's after the saw a near 9% fall between 2022 and 2023 - making it the lowest of any area in England.
"Recruitment to these posts are frequently quite difficult"
Alex Stewart is the Chief Executive of Healthwatch Norfolk:
"Once people are in the system here, they are quite happy. But we know there's thousands of people waiting. If you're waiting for a hip operation for example, and you're putting on lots of weight. What is the impact of this and is this going to delay an operation, moving forwards?
"If we can attract people to work in Norfolk, who would being looking after people in their own homes, this would go a long way to helping the issue, but recruitment to these posts are frequently quite difficult.
"Staff should be looking at the discharge point from the first moment that somebody arrives"
"Staff should be looking at the discharge point from the first moment that somebody arrives. For example, if some has had a stroke the people then you can work to get them to get them a point of clinical healthiness. From which point they can be discharged or that process can begin.
"One of the things that we've historically never done well in health is to actually talk to people about what their needs are going to be towards the end of their stay in hospital. Along with having that conversation with friends and family, as well."
NHS England - East of England has said:
"The NHS set out plans earlier than ever before for what’s expected to be another challenging winter, and as part of our urgent and emergency care recovery plan we are rolling out a host of measures to improve hospital discharge and flow, including more staffed and sustainable beds to help boost capacity.
“We continue to work with colleagues in social care and the voluntary sector across the region to ensure those who are medically fit to leave hospital can do so, when ready."
The Department of Health and Social Care has said:
"It is vital people receive the right care in the right place, and we are working to ensure patients are discharged safely from hospital, as soon as they are medically fit to do so.
"A record £1.6 billion investment is supporting this, on top of the £700 million to ease hospital pressures over last winter and the £42.6 million fund to support innovation in adult social care.
“To further bolster the workforce, we are continuing our Made With Care recruitment campaign – designed to reach millions of people – and the average pay for care workers has also increased Staff retention is equally as important, which is why we are also investing almost £2 billion over two years to help councils support the workforce.”