ALMOST every other day news items are reporting on the troubles of the NHS.
In particular, the waiting time in A&E due to the shortage of ward beds.
This shortage is attributed to the delay in arranging social care packages to discharge patients into their home environment.
There is a simple solution to this problem.
During the pandemic Nightingale units were erected and staffed in a relatively short time to care for patients recovering from Covid.
Now is the time to use them again, for recovering patients awaiting care packages, thus freeing up much needed ward beds.
This was very successful in the Dorset area when St Leonard’s Hospital was functioning in the 1970s.
Trained nurses and care assistants, alongside physiotherapists and occupational therapists, could assist the authorities in giving the best care, leading to discharge.
ANITA LOWBRIDGE Danecourt Road, Poole
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