HOSPITALS are to get 5,000 more beds and 800 ambulances to ease the pressure on emergency departments.
The proposals are part of PM Rishi Sunak’s two-year NHS recovery plan.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via GettHospitals are to get 5,000 more beds and 800 ambulances to ease the pressure on emergency departments[/caption]
He called it “ambitious and credible” — it will be backed by a £1billion fund which will also provide 100 mental health response vehicles.
The PM will set out his ideas today on a visit to the North East with NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard.
He said: “Urgent and emergency care is facing serious challenges but we have an ambitious and credible plan to fix it.
“It will take time to get there but our plan will cut long waiting times by increasing the number of ambulances, staff and beds — stopping the bottlenecks outside A&E and making sure patients are seen and discharged quickly.
“If we meet this ambition, it will represent one of the fastest and longest sustained improvements in emergency waiting times in NHS history.”
The move comes after ministers promised a major expansion in community care to keep patients away from hospitals.
Ministers have also announced 3,000 hospital at home beds will be created this year.
It is hoped about 50,000 people a month could eventually be cared for at home, monitored using gadgets and apps.
And proposals are in place for three quarters of A&E patients to be seen within four hours by spring next year.