As part of the £20.5bn funding increase for the NHS, the government has pledged an extra £3.5bn a year in annual funding for primary and community care by 2023/24. The funding will be used to ensure that more patients are cared for at home and in the community, in tern reducing ‘needless’ hospital admissions.
Statistics have shown that one third of hospital admissions from care homes are avoidable. Staying in hospital beds puts a strain on the health system whilst also risking the health and independence for older people, due to muscle ageing.
Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, has said:-
“Everyone can see that to future-proof the NHS we need to radically redesign how primary and community health services work together. For community health services this means quick response to help people who don’t need to be in hospital, as well as dissolving the 70-year-old boundary between GP practices and community nursing.
“But to will the end is to will the means. That’s why – as part of the NHS Long Term Plan – for the first time we’re going to guarantee that these services get a growing share of the growing NHS budget.”
