Funding boost

Emergency and Urgent Care Services at St. Mary's Hospital, Newport, Isle of Wight are to be remodelled with money provided by the Department of Health.  The Department has announced that the Isle of Wight NHS Trust is among 19 hospitals across England who have been awarded a share of £13.34m. The £714,000 awarded to the Trust is to help support NHS England's wider plans to improve A&E performance in England by 2018. In particular, it will improve the flow of patients in the hospital and help the Trust hit the target of admitting, transferring or discharging 95% of patients within 4 hours.

Rick Strang, Emergency Care Improvement Lead at Isle of Wight NHS Trust said: "We're delighted to be awarded £714,000 from the Department of Health to help improve our emergency and urgent care services. The money will be used to improve the current emergency department (A&E).  We will look to build a dedicated area to receive patients referred to the hospital by their GP to see the medical team. This will mean they will not have to wait in the emergency department. In addition we will be looking to improve the service for patients who attend the Emergency Department with minor illnesses and/or injuries. These will be streamed away into a new care area so that the emergency care doctors remain free to deal with the major emergencies that arrive by ambulance."

Department of Health, Minister of State for Health Philip Dunne said:
"Thanks to the hard work and dedication of staff, the NHS has put in place strong plans ahead of winter - ensuring patients continue to receive safe and efficient care as demand rises over the coming months.
"This funding will give more hospitals the boost they need to streamline patient flow in A&E effectively, freeing up A&Es over the winter to care for the sickest patients and helping make sure all patients get the right treatment in the right place as quickly as possible."