RADICAL NHS PLAN TO FAST TRACK CARE AND FREE UP BEDS

'Staff are pulling out all the stops to help people get care when they need it most'

- Hanna Geissler

RADICAL NHS PLAN SPARES PATIENTS STAY IN HOSPITAL

PATIENTS are benefiting from quicker treatment which crucially is freeing up hospital beds in a radical shake-up of health care.

Specialist "same-day" units mean hundreds of thousands of people have already avoided having to stay in overnight, said NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard. The facilities set up at every major hospital allow medics to diagnose, treat and discharge patients all on the same day.

Cutting treatment waiting times was one of five priorities set out by Rishi Sunak last year and he insisted yesterday there were now signs that "the plan is working".

Writing in the Daily Express, Ms Pritchard says: "It is no secret that NHS staff are managing record demand across the board."

She describes the national rollout of same-day emergency care (SDEC) as "one of the biggest transformations to urgent care in recent years".

The initiative has helped to free up beds and keep patients out of hospital by as much as 30% in some trusts.

Ms Pritchard writes: "Nobody wants to spend a night in hospital if they don't have to.

"So these services are about bringing the expertise available on wards closer to the front door with a mission to support as many people as possible to return to the comfort of their homes to rest and recover on that same day, having received the care and treatment they needed.

Progress