Commons Sense

Hansard-based summaries and metrics

NHS Beds Alexandra Hospital 2023-01-24

2023-01-24

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Response quality

Questions & Answers

Q1 Partial Answer
Rachel Maclean
▸ Context
The Alexandra Hospital in Redditch faces a shortage of NHS beds, prompting the MP to ask what steps are being taken to increase bed availability.
What steps his Department is taking to increase the number of NHS beds available in the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch?
Helen Whately
Right now, we are putting an extra £750 million into our health and social care system to free up beds in hospitals. Looking ahead, we will shift the dial on the decades-old problem of delayed discharge by properly planning for discharge, making more care available at home, and joining up health and social care in a way that has never been done before. That is how we are freeing up beds in hospitals such as the Alexandra in Redditch.
▸ Assessment & feedback
Specific steps or funding for increasing NHS bed availability at the Alexandra Hospital were not detailed.
Response accuracy
Q2 Partial Answer
Rachel Maclean
▸ Context
Worcestershire has received £2.6 million from the NHS discharge fund, and constituents of Alexandra Hospital in Redditch are eager to see practical changes.
I thank the Minister for that answer. In Worcestershire, we warmly welcome the £2.6 million that has been allocated as our share of the discharge fund. Will the Minister set out when my constituents who use the Alexandra will start to see these changes flowing through? What practical changes will they see and what impact will there be on waiting times and waiting lists?
Helen Whately
I thank my hon. Friend for her excellent and important question about her local share of the £750 million of extra funding for discharge this winter. I can tell her that, in Worcestershire, money is already going into extra placements in homecare, community care and care homes, and into providing practical support to help people when they get home from hospital, in partnership with the voluntary sector. I assure her that we will publish the spending plans for her area and the rest of the country shortly.
▸ Assessment & feedback
Specific timeline or detailed impacts on waiting times and lists were not provided.
Response accuracy