University Hospitals Dorset sets up care hotel to ease bed blocking

There have been around 200 medically fit for discharge patients in Bournemouth and Poole hospitals for several weeks - they are ready to leave but need support in the short term before returning home and capacity in the care system is stretched to the limit.

Now University Hospitals Dorset has contracted private company Abicare to provide 24-hour care on one floor of a Bournemouth hotel and the first 16 patients are expected to moved imminently.

Over the initial 14 weeks of the contract, scores of people could go through the care hotel system.

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And hospital bosses say the temporary measure will have a huge impact on capacity in the hospitals.

It will help ease the flow of patients throughout the hospitals reduce waiting times in the hospitals’ emergency departments and assist with the ongoing recovery of elective surgery following the Covid-19 pandemic.

Emergency Department at Royal Bournemouth Hospital

UHD director of nursing Paula Shobbrook said: "This is new, innovative and a really positive move. It is absolutely for the benefit of our patients because we know hospital is not the best place for their rehabilitation."

She described it "a release valve."

Read more: Bed blocking problems at University Hospitals Dorset

The care of the patients, who only be there short term, is handled by Abicare, a CQC registered care provider already running similar services in four hotels in other parts of the country.

Mark Mould, chief operating officer of UHD said: “Our hospitals are the best place for acute care for our patients.

"However, when patients are medically ready to leave, we should do all we can to support this to help free up the space for new patients and ease the pressure on our staff. This is also better for the ongoing recovery of our patients."

Anne-Marie Perry, the chief executive of Abicare said: “We are very pleased to be able to work with UHD on this proactive short-term solution to help ease the pressure on their hospitals.

"We are running similar services for other hospitals in the south and know that by helping even a small number of patients leave can make a significant difference to the performance of hospitals and can help enormously with the timely care of other patients.”

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A spokesman for the hotel said: "We have a long relationship with the hospital and this has helped with the planning and organisation needed to ensure that the patients coming to our hotel will receive the best possible care.

"Our hotel is a great environment with great facilities for patients to continue with their recovery and we very pleased to be able to support these patients and UHD in this way.”