Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Zubir Ahmed and Damian Hinds(1 week, 4 days ago)
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Damian Hinds (East Hampshire) (Con)
Alton and Petersfield hospitals give excellent step-up, step-down and end-of-life care. The trust is introducing more home-based care, which is good, but it also proposes closing a ward in one of the community hospitals. Will the Minister ensure that there remain sufficient beds and sufficient capacity in our local community hospitals for those patients who need them?
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care (Dr Zubir Ahmed)
In September, Hampshire Hospitals NHS foundation trust reported step-down immediate care capacity as the primary reason for discharge, and at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS trust, the discharge figure was 13% lower than the average. As important as immediate care is, we know from the evidence that getting home is better; we are putting record amounts of money into the better care fund to make that possible.