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A&E should cope this winter, promises health secretary A&E cash linked to staff flu jabs
(about 1 hour later)
A&E units in England should be able to meet their waiting time targets this winter, the health secretary says. Hospitals in England will have to get most of their staff vaccinated against flu if they want access to the A&E bailout fund in the future.
Jeremy Hunt gave the assurance as he set out a package of short term and long term measures to tackle the growing pressures in the system. The government has set aside £500m for the next two years to help deal with the growing pressures.
It includes an extra £500m over the next two winters - something announced earlier this summer. The 53 trusts most at risk this year have been told they will share £235m.
But Labour said he was setting out "half-baked plans" that were just "too little, too late". But to qualify for next year's slice trusts will have to get 75% of staff vaccinated as ministers attempt to tackle a long-running problem.
The £500m will be shared by 53 hospital trusts and is dependent on 75% of their staff being vaccinated against flu. Currently less than half of health staff get the flu jab, putting themselves and patients at risk.
This has always an ongoing problem for the NHS - on average less than half of staff get the jabs. Chief Medical Officer Dame Sally Davies said she could not understand why they did not want to protect themselves and accused them of being "selfish" for not protecting their patients.
Mr Hunt said it will be "tough" but it was "entirely possible" that last winter's problems - when A&E missed its four-hour waiting time target - could be avoided this year. She also said two and three-year-olds would be getting the flu jab - via a nasal spray - this year as the roll out of the under fives vaccination programme begins.
Meanwhile, he said work on longer term fixes for integrating social care with the NHS and for redesigning the whole urgent and emergency care system functions - from ambulances and telephone advice to A&E units - would continue. The steps were announced as ministers set out their plans for tackling the growing pressures in A&E.
This will start with care for vulnerable older patients with complex health problems. As well as the £500m pot, a series of longer term measures are also being taken after the NHS missed its four-hour waiting time target between January and March 2013.
Elderly people often feel there is no reliable alternative to hospital, says Mr Hunt. It represented the worst performance for almost a decade.
But from 2014 they will get a named GP to coordinate their care. 24/7 service
This will start next year with care for vulnerable older patients with complex health problems.
From April 2014 they will get a named clinicians - most likely a GP - to coordinate their care across the hospital, community and social care system.
And by the end of the year a third of A&Es should have the technology in place to allow them to see the GP records of patients - only a handful currently do.
Next year will also see the start of "integrated care" pilots.Next year will also see the start of "integrated care" pilots.
These will include schemes that shift care out of hospitals and into the community by helping these patients manage their increasingly complex conditions.These will include schemes that shift care out of hospitals and into the community by helping these patients manage their increasingly complex conditions.
It will require joint working between social care, district nursing and GPs.It will require joint working between social care, district nursing and GPs.
A total of £3.8bn has been set aside from 2015 to roll this out across the country. A total of £3.8bn has been set aside from 2015 to expand this out across the country.
That is also the target date for the redesign of the urgent and emergency care system.That is also the target date for the redesign of the urgent and emergency care system.
NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh is leading that review.NHS Medical Director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh is leading that review.
More detail is expected in autumn, but Sir Bruce said it was looking at issues such as seven-day working and an increased role for ambulances in treating and assessing patients.More detail is expected in autumn, but Sir Bruce said it was looking at issues such as seven-day working and an increased role for ambulances in treating and assessing patients.
"In the long-term, I want a 24/7 service which recognises patients as individuals and looks out for them proactively," Mr Hunt added. Mr Hunt said: "In the long-term, I want a 24/7 service which recognises patients as individuals and looks out for them proactively."
But he said the support being put in place immediately meant the NHS should be able to keep to its four-hour waiting time requirement this winter.
He said it would be "tough", but "entirely possible".
But Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the House of Commons the plans were "half-baked".But Shadow Health Secretary Andy Burnham told the House of Commons the plans were "half-baked".
"Too little, too late. Not good enough on an issue of huge importance.""Too little, too late. Not good enough on an issue of huge importance."