London: The National Health Service (NHS) of England unveiled a two-year recovery plan on Monday to aid in restoring emergency care and frontline services, which are presently enduring one of their most challenging winters.
The state-funded NHS claimed that the plan, which includes 800 new ambulances and 5,000 new beds supported by a 1 billion pound ($1.2 billion) fund, aims to decrease waiting times and improve the patient experience.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated, "Urgent and emergency care is facing serious challenges, but we have an ambitious and credible plan to fix it." After only three months in office, Sunak has stated that decreasing hospital wait times is one of his top priorities.
When hospitals are already attempting to handle enormous backlogs left by the pandemic, the circulation of COVID-19 and flu has increased winter pressures.
Ambulance workers and nurses have been striking over pay, staffing, and investment levels that frontline staff claim leave them unprepared to handle record demand, which has made the situation worse.
Patients have endured lengthy waits in ambulances that were backed up outside of hospitals and unable to be discharged because there weren't enough beds.
The NHS said same-day emergency care units would work to reduce the number of people spending the night in hospitals, while the government announced on Sunday that more elderly and vulnerable patients would be treated at home to avoid unnecessary hospital visits.
Amanda Pritchard, chief executive officer of NHS England, stated that "the front door to the NHS is often where we can see the pressures build up."
"To alleviate that pressure, we will continue to work with social care colleagues to make space in hospitals available so that patients who are healthy enough to be discharged can do so and receive the care they require at home or in the community."