I am pleased that the Government has acknowledged the pressures that the NHS finds itself under each winter and has allocated funding to invest in our local hospitals to allow the dedicated staff to carry on their excellent work. North Bristol NHS Trust will receive up to £2,823,000 and University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust will be allocated an extra £1,950,369.
Our local hospitals and the wider health system has prepared earlier and more extensively than ever before for Winter this year, with a focus on securing the right numbers of doctors and nurses, increasing bed availability, and making sure there is strong social care and community care support available to help discharge patients from hospital quickly.
The extra funding granted to the NHS trusts is the equivalent of 111 annual nurse salaries, and was announced as part of a £337m immediate funding boost for NHS hospitals this winter in the recent Budget, in addition to an extra £2.8bn investment over the next two years.