Families in Cornwall are being offered up to £1,200 to take relatives out of hospital as part of a raft of emergency measures to mitigate a growing health crisis in the county.
Measures include commandeering a hotel for patients and recruiting drivers from the fire brigade to help the ambulance service cope with unprecedented demand.
NHS sources told i that disagreements between the local NHS trust and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) led to a crucial delay of several weeks in declaring a critical incident in the county.
A spokeswoman for the NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said the grant “provides support to people who have no clinical reason to be in hospital but who may need some extra help while waiting for a care package”.
The money for the grants is provided by the Government’s national hospital discharge programme, which was launched last year and is available to all NHS trusts, in partnership with charities.
Jayne Kirkham, a Labour councillor on the county council, said: “There are currently more than 650 people in Cornwall waiting for a social care package and well over a hundred in our hospitals who are unable to be discharged because the care is unavailable.
“We regularly have queues of 20-plus ambulances at the only major acute hospital in the county in Truro.
“The NHS locally are taking pretty desperate measures to try to cope – commissioning a hotel and paying people grants in order to try to encourage them to take their relatives out of hospital.”
The family, Muddy…the family is supposed to take care of them. Even if they have no experience in these matters or medically trained in general stuff like lifting and helping to the loo, etc, and the person requires a care package (which infers some sort of medical attention), its the family who have to do it. Its a shambles I think, and I fear more people will suffer as a result.
You can’t just throw money at a problem and expect it to go away!
“…Families will be expected to play a key role in monitoring and caring for loved ones who are sent home days or weeks before they would otherwise have left hospital, with support from health professionals where possible……”
support from health professionals where possible??? So if they are shoving these poor sick folk away from hospital, because they can’t cope, you can be assured that the “support where possible” is just a platitude and the families will be left to cope on their own!
Where possible? That statement leaves the door wide open for “sorry, but for now it is NOT possible” so then what, inept/inappropriate medical care by family members? On ya bike mate!!!
It’s the new Medical approach, throw money at any problem which arises, just keep the numbers in order, never mind about the patients!
Still, calling 999, whilst clutching a wad of money, driving your granny home from hospital, might be a nice little earner, no need for her even to get dressed!
G7 weekend arrives with world leaders and about 20,000 officials flocking to the small tourist town of Carbis Bay, near St Ives. During the build-up to the event, Cornwall’s infection rate rises to 81.7 per 100,000, compared to a UK average of 77.4. In St Ives and Halsetown, where G7 takes place, rates of infection rise 2,450 per cent to 733.2 per 100,000 people. In a number of Falmouth council wards, where the world’s media and many officials are based, the rates rise by 2,000 per cent to up to 600 per 100,000.
22 June
Covid-19 rates of infection are now up 5,000 per cent compared to the weekend before G7. The rate of infection in St Ives stands at 905.7 per 100,000 people, compared to the UK rate of 93.7. Despite this local health chiefs dismiss the need for surge testing or additional measures. Cornwall’s director of public health Rachel Wigglesworth also denies any link between the rise in cases and the G7 Summit.
July and August
The easing of lockdown restrictions see tens of thousands of tourists flock to Cornwall, putting additional pressure on local NHS services.
53,000 revellers flock to Newquay for Boardmasters, the largest festival in the UK since the beginning of the pandemic.
27 August
5,000 cases are directly attributed to Boardmasters as infection rates soar in Cornwall again. Devon and Cornwall now account for eight of the top ten most infected areas in England.
© Provided by The i Boris Johnson and Joe Biden at the G7 summit in Carbis Bay, Cornwall (Photo: Phil Noble/AFP via Getty)
© Provided by The i 53,000 revellers descend on Newquay for the Boardmasters festival (Photo: Hugh R Hastings/Getty Images)