Government plans to move patients stuck in hospital to care homes – but will not discuss this year’s NHS pay | Politics News

A new NHS winter care package will be announced by the government to move patients stuck in hospital to care homes.

Health Secretary Steve Barclay will announce the changes this week, although the total amount of cash that will go to the initiative is still being worked out.

Senior government sources told the Sunday Times it would involve spending hundreds of millions of pounds in addition to the £500 million on social care announced in the autumn statement.

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The plan, which Mr Barclay will announce on Monday, is understood to aim to buy in batches of up to 2,000 care home beds in facilities approved by the Care Quality Commission over the next four weeks.

Patients who were supposed to be discharged but cannot be discharged because they need more care but have nowhere to go will then be moved to a care home bed.

The aim is to reduce NHS waiting lists and ambulance waiting times, which are already exacerbated by beds being blocked by these types of patients, through no fault of their own.

There are around 13,000 patients stuck in NHS hospitals who don’t need to be there.

As the government faces further strikes from NHS workers including nurses later this month and maybe a junior doctor in MarchThe health minister doubled down on insisting that salary review bodies are the best way to decide public sector wages.

For months, ministers have said that salary negotiations are for pay review bodies, including professionals and staff from related fields, to decide.

But unions said ministers had the final say on whether to accept the recommendations and also argued that this year’s wages were decided before inflation spiked above 10%.

Mr Barclay is due to meet union leaders on Monday but the health minister wants to focus on salary negotiations for 2023/24.

The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said it would Strike continues on January 18 and 19 unless the last few months of this fiscal year are discussed.

Pat Cullen, head of the RCN, has called on ministers to come to a halfway agreement on their demand for a 19% pay rise for this financial year.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak indicated to the BBC on Sunday that only the salaries of 2023/24 are up for discussion.

Ms Cullen said she was “a little bit optimistic” as she said she noticed “a slight change” in Mr Sunak’s stance.

Health Secretary Maria Caulfield, also a cancer nurse, told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge Sunday program that Monday’s talks will be about “both wages and conditions” after The previous government said there was only one change in conditions.

Mr Barclay, writing in the Sunday Telegraph, said he realized “inflation has made life harder for the workforce”, which is why he is “so determined to talk about what we can work next year when paid.”

“Making this work through the process of independent pay review agencies is clearly the best way to do this, especially since spending each winter frozen in negotiations,” he wrote. Wages with unions will keep the NHS from focusing on other challenges facing the NHS.

The health minister added that he is “ready to join the unions” and NHS staff could get a significant pay rise from April – if they accept radical reforms that improve productivity, for example like a “virtual ward” at everyone’s home.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We recognize the pressures the NHS is facing following the impact of the pandemic and are working tirelessly to ensure people receive the care they need, supported by additional funding of up to £14.1 billion for health and social care. social care for the next two years.

“This winter we will provide £500m to speed hospital discharges and the NHS is creating 7,000 extra beds to increase capacity.

“We are continuing to consider all options to help urgently reduce discharge delays for medically healthy patients. Next steps will be forthcoming.”

On Saturday, Mr. Sunak held an emergency meeting with health leaders as he calls for “bold and radical” action to ease the NHS winter crisis.

He said that “business as usual thinking won’t fix the challenges we face”.