Pulse, 27 August 2013
- The Government has announced that the most hard-pressed A&E departments will receive a total of £500m over the next two years. This short article explains how this will be used.
- According to a Government statement: ‘The aim is for patients to be treated promptly, with fewer delays in A&E and for other patients to get the care, prescriptions or advice they need without going to A&E.’
- Some £15m of the cash will go towards the 111 non-emergency phone service.
- NHS England will decide how to allocate the first £250m fund for winter 2013/14 in collaboration with Monitor, the NHS Trust Development Authority and the Association of Directors of Adult Social Services based on plans from urgent care boards around the country. These are all national bodies.
- It is thought that a lot of the money will go on social care so that patients admitted via A&E can be discharged from hospital,
