1. HCT Plans for West Herts
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust proposes to introduce innovative new services, caring for more people in their own homes and reducing the number of its community hospital beds in West Hertfordshire.
The NHS is facing significant financial challenges as it tackles unprecedented increases in demand for its services and this is impacting on all NHS organisations in this area, including Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT) and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group (HVCCG) – this is the organisation that plans and pays for most NHS services.
HCT has a new contract with HVCCG, which has resulted in a decrease in its budget. A large element of the budget reduction was funding support for HCT community beds which the CCG can no longer provide. In addition, HCT is required to find annual efficiency savings. The Trust also has to reduce an overspend that has been caused by the increased needs of patients in our beds.
The change in HCT’s budget means that it will need to close Sopwell and Langton wards at St Albans City Hospital, where there are 39 beds. This will save more than the £2.8 million that HCT needs to find in total. As a result, the Trust will be able to open ten additional beds in Langley House on St Albans Road in Watford. About 40% of patients in our St Albans wards actually live in Watford, while only 31% have a St Albans postcode.
HCT is working with West Herts Hospitals Trust (WHHT) to increase its capacity to support people in their own homes in
The NHS is facing significant financial challenges as it tackles unprecedented increases in demand for its services and this is impacting on all NHS organisations in this area, including Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT) and Herts Valleys Clinical Commissioning Group (HVCCG) – this is the organisation that plans and pays for most NHS services.
HCT has a new contract with HVCCG, which has resulted in a decrease in its budget. A large element of the budget reduction was funding support for HCT community beds which the CCG can no longer provide. In addition, HCT is required to find annual efficiency savings. The Trust also has to reduce an overspend that has been caused by the increased needs of patients in our beds.
The change in HCT’s budget means that it will need to close Sopwell and Langton wards at St Albans City Hospital, where there are 39 beds. This will save more than the £2.8 million that HCT needs to find in total. As a result, the Trust will be able to open ten additional beds in Langley House on St Albans Road in Watford. About 40% of patients in our St Albans wards actually live in Watford, while only 31% have a St Albans postcode.
HCT is working with West Herts Hospitals Trust (WHHT) to increase its capacity to support people in their own homes in
response to the need to reduce community hospital bed numbers.
The ‘discharge to assess’ scheme, which has been very successful in other areas of the country, will provide support for up to 50 west Herts residents in their own homes after they have been in hospital. The funding for this service will come mainly from WHHT, which continues to accommodate patients who are well enough to leave hospital but do not have the right support in place to do so. The arrangement between the hospital trust and the community trust will help to avoid delays to patients who are waiting to leave hospital.
WHHT will also transfer control of a ward in Hemel Hempstead to HCT which will be used to support patients get home as soon as they are ready. HCT is also recruiting more healthcare assistants to bolster its community nursing and therapy teams. There is a national shortage of qualified nurses and therapists, and healthcare assistants can provide treatments such as the administration of insulin injections in patients’ homes to free up our nurses’ time.
In the coming weeks we will be publicising a number of events where local people can hear in more detail about our proposals and have their say.
The ‘discharge to assess’ scheme, which has been very successful in other areas of the country, will provide support for up to 50 west Herts residents in their own homes after they have been in hospital. The funding for this service will come mainly from WHHT, which continues to accommodate patients who are well enough to leave hospital but do not have the right support in place to do so. The arrangement between the hospital trust and the community trust will help to avoid delays to patients who are waiting to leave hospital.
WHHT will also transfer control of a ward in Hemel Hempstead to HCT which will be used to support patients get home as soon as they are ready. HCT is also recruiting more healthcare assistants to bolster its community nursing and therapy teams. There is a national shortage of qualified nurses and therapists, and healthcare assistants can provide treatments such as the administration of insulin injections in patients’ homes to free up our nurses’ time.
In the coming weeks we will be publicising a number of events where local people can hear in more detail about our proposals and have their say.