Government announces £40m to tackle Winter pressures
The money's being given to councils to spend locally.
The government has announced the allocation of a £40 million fund for local authorities to strengthen urgent and emergency care resilience and performance this winter.
Local authorities within integrated care systems (ICSs) identified by NHS England as experiencing the greatest challenges with urgent and emergency care were invited to put forward proposals for access to the fund and today the government has set out details of how much each local authority will receive.
This is in addition to £200 million announced in September 2023 to boost resilience in the NHS and help patients get the care they need as quickly as possible this winter. It can be used to buy more services aimed at keeping people out of hospital, as well as more packages of home care, which allow people to leave hospital faster and build back their independence.
Minister of State for Care, Helen Whately, said:
"We know winter will be challenging, which is why we started preparing earlier than ever before so people get the care they need. We’re supporting local councils with targeted funding to use where it’s needed most.
"With a focus on speeding up hospital discharge and increasing social care provision, this money will help the NHS care for people through the winter."
Home care packages can include enabling a carer to come to an individual’s home a couple of times a day and help them with tasks including getting dressed. The funding can also be used to increase the amount of specialist dementia support available in the community, services which also help to keep people out of hospital.
Other local authority proposals included plans for services such as patient transport provision to take people home from hospital, the provision of technology to monitor people at home, and additional capacity to undertake more assessments of an individual’s care needs.
This fund will also allow local authorities to boost social care provision, strengthen admissions avoidance services and speed up discharge rates this winter.
Compared to this time last October, there has been a 9 percent fall in the number of patients staying in hospital after they are ready to be discharged, freeing up space on wards and helping flow through the system.
Regional breakdown:
Barking and Dagenham - £428,384
Bolton - £652,199
Bracknell Forest - £169,764
Bury - £383,179
Cheshire East - £680,601
Cheshire West and Chester - £688,380
City of London - £22,891
Cornwall - £1,310,582
Devon - £1,677,546
East Riding of Yorkshire - £678,410
Hackney - £659,190
Halton - £299,864
Hampshire - £2,230,685
Havering - £471,840
Herefordshire, County of - £413,161
Hertfordshire - £1,939,759
Isle of Wight - £359,582
Kent - £2,892,188
Kingston upon Hull, City of - £681,683
Knowsley - £458,409
Liverpool - £1,387,397
Manchester - £1,250,840
Medway - £468,175
Newham - £688,941
Norfolk - £1,960,526
North East Lincolnshire - £365,819
North Lincolnshire - £357,003
North Yorkshire - £1,137,090
Oldham - £526,579
Plymouth - £602,468
Portsmouth - £417,760
Redbridge - £523,587
Rochdale - £520,013
Salford - £618,215
Sefton - £715,436
Shropshire - £653,945
Slough - £241,837
Southampton - £520,495
St. Helens - £451,746
Staffordshire - £1,661,796
Stockport - £602,051
Stoke-on-Trent - £624,890
Tameside - £541,443
Telford and Wrekin - £363,277
Torbay - £388,748
Tower Hamlets - £687,323
Trafford - £443,700
Waltham Forest - £510,786
Warrington - £386,476
Wigan - £747,029
Windsor and Maidenhead - £223,541
Wirral - £844,686
Worcestershire - £1,118,803
York - £343,342