Care services in Bridlington are equipped to handle hospital discharges despite concerns over dwindling patient numbers and potential unit closures at a local care facility.
Patients discharged from hospital in Bridlington will be supported by local social services, despite growing fears over the future of a local care facility.
Concerns have been raised regarding a significant drop in patient numbers at the unit, prompting serious questions about the readiness of local care packages. The capacity of the Bridlington Care Unit has reportedly fallen dramatically, sparking anxiety over the broader financial situation of regional hospitals and how this will impact vulnerable residents.
During a recent exchange regarding the future of local health provision, Councillor Denise Howard questioned whether social services are adequately prepared to handle an influx of patients if the facility were to shut down entirely.
Councillor Denise Howard said:
"I was told, shockingly, that the number of patients now being treated in the Bridlington Care Unit has dwindled to eight, from a capacity of 28. So my question is, does the portfolio feel confident that given bombshell news about the financial state of the hospitals in our area, does he feel confident that social services will be able to take up the slack, as it were, if this unit closes, and will care packages be there in a timely manner?"
In response, assurances have been given that care services in the town can comfortably cope with current patient numbers. The clinical focus remains firmly on ensuring individuals can return to their own homes as quickly as possible, rather than being placed in intermediate care homes.
Health officials argue that keeping people out of their own homes for extended periods leads to worse clinical outcomes for the patients involved.
Councillor Jonathan Owen, the portfolio holder for Health and Wellbeing at East Riding Council, addressed the capacity concerns directly. He emphasised that a proposed national care service is not the answer to the current health sector challenges, advocating instead for highly localised, place-based solutions:
"I have great confidence in our care services being able to absorb the capacity of people being discharged in hospital. It's a long debate is the extra care unit at at Bridlington at the moment. Arguments both ways, one, clinically, the longer we keep people out of their own homes the worse the outcomes. So, ideally we want to get people straight from hospital straight to home and that's their own homes, not care homes. That's the aim, and I'm confident we'll have the capacity to do that. I think funding for the NHS is an ongoing concern, but a National Care Service, I do not think is the right answer. Something place based and local, that's the future for continued care for our populations."
The priority for local authorities remains clear: securing timely, place-based care for residents in Bridlington while successfully navigating the ongoing financial pressures facing the wider National Health Service.
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