AN extra £500,000 will be put towards helping speed-up discharges from East Lancashire’s hospitals and ease bed-blocking headaches.

County council bosses have established a contingency fund to cover the work of a social care team, which will monitor the issue over Christmas and New Year.

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The announcement should dovetail with East Lancashire Hospital NHS Trust and Blackburn with Darwen and East Lancashire clinical commissioners’ winter resilience plans.

Under the council initiative, There will be more social work staff available at hospitals over the festive period. And annual leave has been restricted over Christmas and New Year so 80 per cent of hospital and community teams will be on the rotas over the same timeframe.

An additional 20 occupational therapists will be recruited, in the medium term, so more assessments can be conducted, especially in patients’ own homes. And 300 additional hours of home care support are being commissioned, alongside more assistance to ensure residential care places can be provided, easing pressure on casualty departments.

Cllr Tony Martin, adult and community services cabinet member, said: “There are serious pressures on the health and social care system across the country and we face the same pressures here in Lancashire. It’s a measure of how seriously we take this issue that we have identified this funding at a time when the county council is facing an unprecedented financial challenge.”

“I am committed to doing all we can for our frail elderly citizens over the winter months.“For the longer term we are working very hard on how we can manage future demand, as we face reducing budgets and rising costs.”

Clinical commissioners in East Lancashire (CCG) will look to spend up to £67,000 on extended opening, before 8am and after 6.30pm weekdays and Saturday mornings, over the holiday at GP surgeries.

This is focused on extended hours up to Friday, then on December 28 to 30 and January 3 to 6, with other provision for Boxing Day, December 27 and January 2, so demands on the workforce can be managed.

Lisa Cunliffe, of the CCG, said in a report: “The proposal from Pennine Lancashire is to increase capacity through the GP out of hours service on December 26 and 27 and January 2.”