How we will tackle crisis

A range of measures drawn up after discussions between hospital staff, social services, voluntary and private health sectors, was today unveiled to the Evening Advertiser.

We revealed on Wednesday how chief feature writer Shirley Mathias had to lay on a mattress on the floor of an office because there were no beds.

And yesterday we spoke to patient Christian Cousins, who spent only two days in a proper bed during a two-week stay at PMH.

The aim of the plan is to reduce hospital admissions and ensure patients are discharged as soon as they are well enough to leave hospital.

Lyn Hill Tout, operations director for Swindon and Marlborough NHS Trust said: "The initiatives are a mixture of successful schemes which have worked in the past and new ideas, many of which have been proposed by staff from all the different agencies.

"In previous years, the winter pressures have begun to bite in November or December. This year however, the pressures have been much earlier."

The hospital has treated 396 more elective and 212 more emergency patients than last year but the number of patients requiring treatment is also higher than the same period last year.

Ms Hill Tout said: "The numbers are just one factor. We are also finding that the patients we are admitting are very ill which has meant they have need more care, sometimes for longer periods."

As part of the new measures to combat the problem, 22 intermediate care beds are to be made available at the privately run Badbury House Care Centre on Tuesday with a further 20 beds soon to be opened elsewhere in the town.

Sally Roberts, who is chief executive of Blanchworth Care which runs Badbury House Care Centre, said: "The cost of a bed at Badbury House is roughly £300 to £450 a week.

"That is considerably cheaper than one in an acute hospital setting which typically costs from £900 to £1,300."

n Comment, page 6

n At the sharp end, page 10