Projects aim to tackle hospital bed blocking

Two schemes in our region are aiming to reduce the mounting pressure on hospitals by tackling bed blocking.

The issue has been blamed for many of the problems at our under-fire A&E departments.

Beds are being taken up by patients elsewhere in the hospital who are well enough to go home but cannot be discharged because home care is not available.

In Woodbridge, Suffolk, Shirley Green cannot praise the Red Cross enough. She was admitted to hospital following a fall and, although she wanted to go home to be back with her dog, she was worried about whether she could cope.

She was told a new pilot project by the Red Cross could help her. The charity provides support workers who collect patients from hospital, take them home and help them carry out simple tasks like shopping and housework.

In the first six weeks of this scheme alone, 43 referrals have been made to the Red Cross, freeing up 123 bed days at hospitals - and meaning other patients have access to them.

The charity says the scheme could show the way for other charities and health trusts to work together to tackle the problem of bed blocking.

Meanwhile at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds, they have introduced a new Early Intervention Team to help patients who come to the hospital early on rather than admit them to hospital where they would unnecessarily take up a bed.

Many patients say the best place to properly recover is at home.

These schemes are hoping to help that happen - with the added bonus of relieving pressure on the region's hospital beds.

Watch Tanya Mercer's report below.