Emergency bed plan costs £2.4m

Kent County Council has pledged to spend up to £2.4million on emergency beds to relieve pressure on an “overburdened” hospital system as further coronavirus plans are unveiled.

Between 384 and 420 additional beds may be needed across Kent to support the discharge of patients from local hospitals during the next six months, according to KCC in-house modelling.

This comes as Public Health England predicts a “surge” in Covid-19 cases over the next few weeks and there could be a need to free capacity within Kent’s existing hospital system.

KCC’s cabinet member for adult social care and public health, Cllr Clair Bell (Con), sanctioned the move as part of an urgent executive decision several days ago.

A KCC paper stated there was an urgent need for the extra bed capacity to free up residential and nursing homes.

KCC received an initial £39million from the Government last week to form a large part of its Covid-19 budget. Up to £95k a week could be spent on block beds over the next 26 weeks.

None have been purchased at this stage due to the lack of current need, a KCC spokesman said.

The decision has been supported by the chair of KCC’s scrutiny committee Cllr Andy Booth (Con) and KCC’s main opposition leader, Cllr Rob Bird (Lib Dem).

Cllr Bird said: “It’s very clear that we have to find accommodation for people coming out of hospital, whether admitted for Covid or another reason. I think the county council has to accept we will have to provide more rest care for people until the health emergency is over.”

The KCC paper said there would be flexibility in how the beds are deployed, so capacity could be increased or reduced as the situation changes.

The Nightingale Hospital is now open in London