Due to the constantly evolving nature of the coronavirus pandemic and the steps being taken to tackle it, it is difficult for me to cover the subject in a column written around a week before publication without the risk of providing out of date advice. I have various links to useful information on my website at www.melstridemp.com/covid-19 and the latest coronavirus restrictions and guidance from the Government can be found at www.gov.uk/coronavirus.
The Government has pledged £15 million to upgrade the A&E facilities at the RD&E and at Torbay. The RD&E will receive £6 million for the provision of new emergency department majors, including 6 additional major trauma cubicles for infectious patients. Torbay Hospital will receive £9 million for the establishment of a Medical Assessment Unit for Adults and Children, emergency department expansion and enhanced same day emergency care capacity. As these are the two A&Es most used by residents in Central Devon, I am delighted with this extra funding, which is part of £450 million being spent to upgrade 25 A&Es in England. The funding is on top of the additional £3 billion that the PM recently announced to help prepare the NHS for the winter months ahead.
In other local NHS-related news, the latest NHS Workforce Statistics show there are 225 more doctors and 461 more nurses working in the NHS in Devon compared to last year. This mirrors the situation across England where the number of doctors in the NHS has increased by 9,306 and the number of nurses has risen by 13,840. The figures are for full-time equivalent staff (rather than head count, which would be even higher), and show that there are now more professionally qualified clinical staff, doctors, paramedics and support to clinical staff than at any point in the history of the NHS.
Last week the Government announced the allocation of £91.5 million to 274 councils to help thousands of vulnerable people who were housed during the pandemic to stay in accommodation this year. Teignbridge is one of the councils which will receive a share of the funding – nearly £150,000 – and Devon as a whole will receive £1.36 million. An additional £13.5 million fund will be used to enable local authorities to tackle new or emerging challenges and applications are also now being considered for a further £161 million fund intended to provide over 3,300 additional supported homes this year for those sleeping rough or currently housed in emergency accommodation. Almost 15,000 people who were sleeping rough or at risk of becoming homeless have been provided with emergency accommodation during the coronavirus pandemic and many are now turning their lives around. But many of these people will need continued, long-term support and this funding will make a big difference in protecting some of the most vulnerable members of our society.
