£3.5bn-a-year vow to help NHS treat patients at home
MONEY saved by leaving the EU will help keep more patients out of hospital by funding treatment at home, Theresa May announced yesterday.
Doctors, nurses and physiotherapists will be brought together in 24-hour-a-day rapid response teams to provide urgent care and recovery support outside hospitals.
The £3.5billion-a-year plan will cut needless admissions and mean more patients who do need to be treated on a ward at first get home sooner.
The Prime Minister, speaking in London, said: “Too often people end up in hospital not because it’s the best place to meet their needs but because the support that would allow them to be treated or recover in their own home just isn’t available.
“In reality many patients would be much better off being cared for in the community.
“The new approach we’re setting out today will mean more people can leave hospital quicker, or avoid being admitted in the first place – which is better for patients and better for the health service.
“Leaving the EU means taking back control of our money as we will no longer be sending vast sums to Brussels. This helps our public finances and means we have more money to spend on domestic priorities like our NHS.”
Common problems that need urgent attention but do not require emergency hospital admissions include having a fall or suffering from an infection.
Around a third of hospital patients stay in longer than they need to. But it can have a devastating impact on older people, with just a 10-day stay causing the equivalent of a decade in muscle ageing.
The funding is part of the previously announced £20billion a year extra cash for the NHS.