Portsmouth care home that took on patients during pandemic could continue to help relieve pressure at QA Hospital

Part of Portsmouth council-run Harry Sotnick House in Buckland is set to become a discharge to assess unit, which will act as a space for patients between hospital and home.

It is planned this will prevent bed blocking at QA, which has previously been a problem, as well as improving the service for patients.

Speaking during a Portsmouth City Council cabinet meeting Andy Biddle, the council's assistant director for adult social care, said: 'We have an ambition to make a discharge to assess unit available in the longer term so that people wouldn't need to make a decision from a hospital bed, they could make the decision in a timely way.

'There would also be the option to use beds for stand up service - for example if people in the community needed a short period of care and support but were at risk of going into hospital we could look at Harry Sotnick for that.

'We know with older people if they go into hospital with limited mobility they can often face deterioration.'

Following the outbreak of coronavirus 20 beds were set up in the home's empty top floor Gunwharf Wing in case they were needed for recoering Covid-19 patients.

The unit was isolated from the rest of the home with the installation of a wall and was used by 44 patients from QA and nursing home Jubilee House - although in the end none tested positive for Covid or had symptoms of the virus.

During the cabinet meeting yesterday (July 14) councillors approved plans to add an extra 26 beds to the wing in case of a second coronavirus peak as well as to transform it into a discharge to assess unit in the future.

Councillor Matthew Winnington, the council's health and wellbeing boss, said: 'This goes back to 2018 when we took control of the council and said we need a discharge unit in the city. There were all the issues at QA at the time in terms of discharge, there was lots of difficulty.

'In the Covid pandemic it (Harry Sotnick House) was the logical place to put this discharge unit and to make sure as we were told by the government what we had to do on the 16th April. It is a really important part, not just during Covid, but of our long term strategy for adult social care in the city.'

There are currently a total of 92 beds at Harry Sotnick House - including the 20 in the Gunwharf Wing.

It is thought the unit could be funded by cash already used to support other winter pressure initiatives that could become redundant. This currently amounts to £2.3m.

Around 12 beds in the Spinnaker Ward at St Mary's Hospital in Portsmouth are also used as discharge to assess patients.

17 residents living in the main part Harry Sotnick House have died linked to coronavirus. There have been no Covid deaths there since April 18. All residents are being cared for in isolation.

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