Bed crisis prompts radical rethink on care

HEALTH officials have announced a radical rethink on the provision of urgent medical care in a bid to bring a solution to the crisis at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire.

It comes a week after they unveiled 81 extra beds in community and nursing homes to try and reduce queues and delays at the complex's accident unit.

The new push involves the hospital and the area's two primary care trusts working closely with social services and other partners. Four work streams will be created in an attempt to break down the overall problems into parts which will be more easy to solve.

In a joint statement, the chief executives of the three bodies said: "This will help us to understand the scale of some of the biggest health issues and system failures that are contributing to the pressure on emergency care."

The probe will focus on why patients are being referred to A&E, where they live, what improvements need to be made in the community and in nursing homes, and the skill mix of staff in the department, primary care and the ambulance service.

It will be made possible with data provided by private consultancy firm Atos, whose fees have been paid by cash from the West Midlands Strategic Health Authority.

Work will start on the study immediately.

It will look at whether patients brought in by ambulance can be taken to alternative locations, their journey through the accident unit, better use of technology to reduce unnecessary paperwork and easy-to-read information on where there are empty beds in the hospital and the community.