I’m very pleased to share news from the Department of Health and Social Care that patients across the Midlands are set to benefit from three new ambulance hubs and 11 new and upgraded discharge lounges, which will free up A&E beds and help cut urgent and emergency care waiting times. Seven discharge lounges are already open in the region, including in Kettering General Hospital. The new facilities are backed by nearly £50 million of investment as part of plans to improve urgent and emergency care performance and cut waiting lists, with the Midlands receiving more than £15.6 million in extra funding. Discharge lounges will free up A&E beds and reduce waiting times for patients admitted to A&E.
Patients across the Midlands will also benefit from three new ambulance hubs at Leicester Royal Infirmary, Glenfield Hospital in Leicester and the Princess Royal in Telford, which will provide additional urgent and emergency care capacity and allow ambulances to get to patients more quickly. In certain areas, ambulance queues to hand patients over to hospital care can be made worse due to a lack of physical space. Ambulance hubs will increase efficiency by cutting out unnecessary delays and helping ambulances get back on the road faster, ensuring they can reach people as quickly as possible. This is very welcome news which further builds on the Government’s action to achieve the aim of cutting the backlog in our NHS, and alongside other recent significant investments in our local NHS infrastructure, such as the new Community Diagnostic Centre in Corby, which is coming. This remains an issue I will continue to campaign hard on, delivering results. See: https://tinyurl.com/484km2u7