A newly-built care home in Cheshire is being used to provide additional NHS beds during the coronavirus pandemic.
Construction of New Care’s Bramhall Manor has only just been completed and it was immediately commissioned in its entirety by the local council and Stockport NHS trusts to reduce bedblocking at Stepping Hill Hospital.
The purpose-built care facility, designed by Street Design Partnership and built by McGoff Construction, has 71 fully-furnished bedrooms with en-suite facilities, communal lounges, dining rooms, libraries, and extensive gardens.
Stepping Hill Hospital has already started to transfer patients who are well enough to be discharged from hospital, but need rehabilitation and further assessment to identify their ongoing care needs before returning home.
Cath Fairhurst, chief operating officer at New Care, said: “COVID-19 has put massive immediate pressure on the NHS. However, the current situation has also highlighted the ongoing huge shortfall of beds in hospitals, many of which are in use by stable patients who have been medically discharged, but require rehabilitation before returning home.
“There is quite simply nowhere for these patients to go, so they remain in hospital blocking beds.
“As a registered nurse, and in all my years of experience working in the health sector, we are navigating our way through unprecedented times.
“A fresh approach to the provision of care facilities and beds is needed now more than ever before.
“Bramhall Manor will be used to free up hospital beds at Stepping Hill Hospital by providing a care pathway for medically-stabilised patients who would otherwise stay in hospital for prolonged periods.
“The contract with the NHS will not only assist with the current crisis, but when coronavirus is under control there will undoubtedly be a need for more care home beds to deal with the longer-term implications of the more-vulnerable patients."