Norwich hotel to become temporary care facility as local NHS reports ‘critical incident’

A city centre hotel in Norwich is to be temporarily transformed into a care facility as the area’s health and care system remains in a critical incident due to sustained and unprecedented pressures on services.

Reported by local press to be the Ipswich Road Holiday Inn, the hotel will take in patients who are ready to leave hospital but need extra care support before they can get home.

The pilot care hotel will cater for up to 15 patients for three months to free up hospital beds and is expected to open in the next few weeks.

People with Covid-19 or those displaying symptoms will not be placed in the care hotel.

Cath Byford, chief nurse at NHS Norfolk and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) said: “This innovative pilot will provide a short-term safe, ‘home from home’ environment for people to move to from hospital when they are well enough but when they are not quite ready to go home without support.

“This will help to speed up the passage of patients through our local hospitals so that we can make more beds available for those who need them most.

“This is the first time we have tried this new approach in Norfolk and Waveney, although the model has been used successfully in other regions. We would like to thank all our partners and colleagues for their support and assistance during this incredibly challenging time.”

Patients will be cared for by trained carer staff from Abicare.

Anne-Marie Perry, managing director of Abicare said: “We have over two years’ experience of running care hotels and we find their success depends on the cooperative collaborative approach adopted by CCGs such as Norfolk and Waveney. Care hotels are an excellent example of a proactive short-term solution that can be readily set up as they are needed utilising resources that exist within the community.”

Independent hotel group Best Western has seen several of its properties over the last two years become discharge hospitals for NHS patients and carers, as well as vaccination centres and accommodation for NHS staff needing to isolate.

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