The North East's health services gear up to help reduce hospital admissions this winter

North East health services are set to focus on identifying and dealing with patients with complex needs and known illnesses to avoid hospital admissions this winter.

Councillors from across the North East gathered at Gateshead Civic Centre on Monday to hear from regional health bosses on how they will tackle a "traditionally" busy winter. Marc Hopkinson, the director of system resilience at NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, informed elected members that planning had already kicked off around May to June this year.

Mr Hopkinson also told members that while winters are typically busy over the last few years, healthcare providers have been busy throughout. Winter illnesses, according to Age UK, range from influenza and the common cold to hypothermia and pneumonia.

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Mr Hopkinson said: "We will have a key focus on proactive identification and management of patients with complex needs. We have vaccination as being a core part of that process but also we are looking at the elderly and people with known diseases and try and treat them in a more appropriate way.

"Whether that is through primary care, or our community nursing team, working with those patients and communities to stop the need to go to hospital."

According to the Department of Health and Social Care figures, more than 500,000 pensioners have been vaccinated against flu in 2023/24, just over 80% of those eligible.

Initiatives to try and deal with high patient flow include Same Day Emergency Care, which allows specialists to treat patients on the same day as they arrive at a hospital, without being admitted to a ward. In addition, there are 'virtual wards', where patients can be seen to in their own homes rather than being taken to hospital.

Mr Hopkinson also informed councillors about 'urgent community response teams', which attempt to provide urgent care, again to people in their homes, for those with complex needs within two hours.