Dr Andrew Murrison used a rare opportunity at Prime Minister’s Questions to raise with Prime Minister Theresa May the escalating level of acute hospital bed blocking that causes so much misery to patients, particularly the elderly and long term sick, and the importance of community hospitals.
Andrew’s concern comes in advance of expected annual winter pressures which tend to make matters worse and following the King’s Fund’s Quarterly Monitoring Report published last week which reported an upswing in bed days lost due to delays in discharging patients from hospital.
He went on to say, “Does she agree with me that part of the solution would be to promote community hospital beds where they still exist in places like Warminster and Shaftesbury?”
His contention is that community hospital beds provide step up and step down care that can relieve pressure on acute hospitals and improve patient care. In Dorset, there are plans to remove community hospital beds at Shaftesbury which will impact on residents in the Mere and Tisbury areas that Andrew represents. He is opposing the plans.
