Bed blocking 1

Nottinghamshire County Council will receive £3.5 million from the Department of Health and Social Care to help ease pressures on adult social care over winter.

The extra money comes as part of a £240 million fund into the NHS which was announced by Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock in October, aiming to reduce the issue of bed blocking.

The Council has said that it will spend £600,000 on short-term beds in care homes for people leaving hospital who need extra support. Additionally, it will spend £500 thousand for short-term support at home for up to two weeks after people have left hospital.

A further £250,000 will be put towards extra equipment for people receiving home care after being in hospital, including products for people with reduced mobility.

In addition, the Council stated that money will be allocated to support workers and social workers to help people regain skills at home and be discharged from hospitals more quickly.

Nottinghamshire Councillor Stuart Wallace, Chairman of the County Council’s Adult Social and Public Health Committee, told Nottinghamshire Live: “We’ve worked closely with our health colleagues in coming up with our plan to use the extra Government money, which aims to free up hospital beds for those most in need and support people leaving hospital to regain their skills at home.

“We will closely monitor the impact of this extra funding to make sure it’s making a difference to local health services and improving people’s independence after a discharge.

“The county council is in the top 10 percent of authorities in the country for minimising hospital discharge delays caused by social care availability this financial year, so this extra funding will build on our current excellent performance.”

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