The NHS is set to buy thousands of extra beds in care homes and other settings in an attempt to discharge more patients and free up hospital beds.

The government is to provide up to £200 million of funding to buy short-term care placements in the community, where people can receive care before going home.

The plan is intended to free up hospital beds, so people can be admitted more quickly from A&E and speed up ambulance handovers. At the moment, there are 13,000 people in hospital beds in England who are fit to be discharged.

The funding will be spent on maximum stays of up to four weeks per patient until the end of March.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: "The NHS is under enormous pressure from Covid and flu, and on top of tackling the backlog caused by the pandemic, Strep A and upcoming strikes, this winter poses an extreme challenge.

"I am taking urgent action to reduce pressure on the health service, including investing an additional £200 million to enable the NHS to immediately buy up beds in the community to safely discharge thousands of patients from hospital and free up hospital capacity, on top of the £500 million we’ve already invested to tackle this issue.

"In addition, we are trialling six National Discharge Frontrunners – innovative, quick solutions which could reduce discharge delays, moving patients from hospital to home more quickly."

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