New Stafford's County Hospital boss: Care at home crucial to easing NHS pressure
More needs to be done to ensure that people are treated at home where possible to avoid heaping pressure on the NHS, a new hospital boss has said.
Tracy Bullock, who has taken over as chief executive of University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust, which runs Stafford Hospital, said dwindling NHS resources meant there needed to be an increased focus on making sure people are not coming to hospital when they don't need to.
She said: "We have had a period of austerity for quite a significant time now. Ten years is a long time and over that period we have seen increasing demand on all hospitals up and down the country.
"Do I think the NHS needs more resources? Yes I do. Do I think they could spend the money they get in a better way? Yes.
"It is about making sure the resource is in the right place, whether that is community services or primary care and making sure people can be looked after in the right location. If they are not looked after in the right place by the right professionals it cause pressure across the board.
"The principle we need to adapt is home first and doing all we can to look after the patient in their home first and only using NHS support when they need to. If we can do that I'm sure we will be in a better position."
