South Swindon MP Robert Buckland Welcomes £5 Million Government Funding For Great Western Hospital

South Swindon MP Robert Buckland has welcomed news that Great Western Hospital will receive £5 million of Government funding to expand and upgrade facilities. The funding will help to ensure that the hospital has more physical space to treat patients, manage patient flow and improve infection control.

The funding comes as part of an additional £150 million capital funding to expand and upgrade 25 more A&Es across the country, to reduce overcrowding and improve infection control ahead of winter.

This is in addition to the £300 million announced recently for 117 Trusts to upgrade their facilities, meaning the Government has now invested £450 million to upgrade A&Es this winter.

Alongside this, a new offer to patients is being piloted in Trusts across England, with NHS 111 being the first point of contact for accessing urgent medical care.

To ensure patients get the right care in the right place and avoid unnecessary visits to Emergency Departments, NHS 111 will build on its role during the pandemic to direct patients to the most clinically appropriate service, including Emergency Departments, an Urgent Treatment Centre, a GP or mental health professional.

Based on what works best during the pilots, this approach will be rolled out to all Trusts from December this year.

Speaking about the £5 million of funding for Great Western Hospital, South Swindon MP Robert Buckland said:

“We all know that when the GWH was built under the previous Labour Government that it was too small. That is why since being first elected I have relentlessly lobbied the Health Secretary for money to increase its capacity.

“This funding will provide the hospital with a new single initial assessment area, increase waiting capacity in emergency care and increase emergency care consulting rooms by 50%.

“The new area with elevated infection control measures will act as a ‘Blue Zone’ where patients identified as potentially infective will be managed.”

“I will continue to work closely with the GWH Trust and lobby for further government funding for our local NHS here in Swindon.”

Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock said:

“We are investing £450 million to make sure our A&E departments are ready for winter. Hospitals around the country will be able to expand and upgrade to ensure they can continue safely treating patients in the coming months.

“During the peak of the pandemic, we saw millions of people using NHS 111 to get the best possible advice on Covid-19, and other urgent NHS services. These pilots will build on this and test whether we can deliver quicker access to the right care, provide a better service for the public and ensure our dedicated NHS staff aren’t overwhelmed.

“We all need to play our part by washing our hands regularly, using a face covering and keeping our distance from those not in our household. We are determined to protect the NHS as we did during the peak.”

NHS 111 will also book appointments for patients with the appropriate service to cut out unnecessary queueing and ensure they get the right care first time. This will be safer and more convenient for patients as it will reduce the amount of time spent in waiting rooms.

Those facing a life-threatening emergency should continue to dial 999 immediately. If someone is unsure how serious a condition is then NHS 111 can offer advice and if necessary, dispatch an ambulance.

To support this expansion the NHS is investing £24 million to increase 111 call handling capacity and will have more clinicians on hand to provide expert advice and guidance.

Each year there are 14.4 million A&E attendances in England that arrive without referral by 111, a GP or in an ambulance, as well as 2.1 million attendances that don’t result in any admission or treatment. Reducing this unnecessary use of Emergency Departments will ease the pressure on the NHS this winter and reduce transmission of Covid-19.

The pandemic has shown NHS 111 can play a more prominent role in triaging patients to make sure they get the right care, first time round.

As winter approaches and we continue to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, these additional measures will help to reduce overcrowding in A&E, protecting both staff and patients and making the NHS as safe as possible.

If a patient without a life-threatening condition in the pilot areas arrives at an A&E department without contacting NHS 111, they will continue to be given the assistance they need but may end up waiting longer than patients with similar health issues who booked an appointment through NHS 111.

A public communications campaign ‘Help Us Help You’ will also launch later this year to direct people to the right NHS service.

Alongside this, NHS England has been exploring whether improvements could be made to emergency care performance measures as part of its ongoing clinically-led review, which has also considered how to accurately measure performance while the service meets the continuing challenges of Covid-19.

Before December a consultation will be launched on standards to ensure they reflect modern emergency care and deliver what patients need. The existing standards remain in place and – if any updates are subsequently made – this will only be on the basis of strong evidence and after thorough consultation.