Colchester Hospital boss calls for end to social care crisis

Nick Hulme, chief executive of East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, which runs the hospital, said 80 patients out of a capacity of 500 are fit to leave.

But issues, including the long-running social care crisis, mean huge delays in seeing them discharged.

The problem means beds at the hospital, which is seeing “unprecedented” demand amid soaring flu and Covid cases, are unavailable for sick patients.

• READ MORE: Colchester Hospital sets up temporary wards to deal with 'excessive' demand

Mr Hulme said: “Not all of those will be waiting for social care.

“Some of those will be waiting for community health care, some will be waiting for residential or nursing homes and some will be waiting for domiciliary care.

“Others might be waiting for families, if they are well off enough to pay for their own care they won’t be eligible for national assistance.”

Concern - ESNEFT chief executive Nick Hulme spoke about current pressures at Colchester Hospital (Image: ESNEFT)

The Department of Health and Social Care has said the Government has provided £500 million to “speed up hospital discharge and free up beds”, while “supporting and growing the health and social care workforce”.

Mr Hulme said Essex can expect to see “some really good schemes” as a result of its share of the funding.

But he called for “non-political” measures to solve the social care crisis.

“The real issue is around providing care in people’s homes,” he said.

“The workforce is massively undervalued and therefore underpaid.

“People who are often doing really difficult jobs – keeping people out of [care] homes, supporting people at the end of their lives, making sure people maintain their independence – are getting paid the minimum wage.

“They’re not valued, there’s no career structure. They can earn four, five, six pounds an hour more working for Amazon or Tesco or whatever.

“They are the bedrock of our social care.

“Until we really value that workforce, we pay them appropriately, we provide career structure, then we’re not going to solve the long-term problem of social care.

“We’ve heard Prime Minister after Prime Minister promising to resolve this, and yet nobody’s done it. It can’t be a political issue.”

Nick Hulme, ESNEFT chief executive, outside Colchester Hospital (Image: Newsquest)

Mr Hulme said the hospital opened up 80 additional beds today to cope with the pressure, using spaces including the outpatients department.

“It isn’t ideal, but it’s better than the back of an ambulance,” he added.

When quizzed over the capacity of the hospital and the need for expansion, Mr Hulme said the issue is “a bit chicken and egg”.

“If we had the 80 beds that are currently filled with people who don’t need to be here, then we don’t need a bigger hospital,” he said.

“The problem is, until we get there, we need a bigger hospital.”

• READ MORE: Colchester Hospital boss makes A&E plea amid Covid and flu cases

He said hospitals in the UK have less beds per capita than the rest of Europe, although he conceded the healthcare systems in European countries differ greatly.

“I’ve never before said we need more beds, I’ve said we need change in the way we deliver healthcare to free up those 80 beds," he said.

“[We need] to make sure people don’t get admitted who don’t need to be admitted because we can provide more care in the community.

“If we invested in primary care and care in the community, and we didn’t have delays, we wouldn’t need more beds. But is that ever going to happen?”