MORE bed closures are being planned in Gwent hospitals through an ongoing project to increase the level of care for vulnerable elderly patients in their own homes.

A 24-bed ward at Newport’s St Woolos Hospital closed last summer as the multi-millionpound Gwent Frailty Programme began to help reduce admissions and speed up discharges.

And a minimum of 12 bed closures are needed this year to meet the programme’s financial plan, according to a report for Newport City Council.

The Frailty Programme, run by the NHS in Gwent and the area’s five local authorities, is designed to help shift the balance of treatment and care, primarily of elderly patients, away from hospitals.

In addition to investment by these organisations, the programme attracted £6.9m in funding – over three years – from the Welsh Government in the form of an I2S (Invest 2 Save Fund) loan, to be paid back with bed reduction and other savings.

By the end of its first year the programme had received more than 13,000 referrals across Gwent, with community resource teams in each council area providing enhanced treatment and care in people’s homes.

The service is intended to reduce reliance, where appropriate, on hospitals and has been well received by patients and their families and carers.

During the year to March 31 there were 14,732 fewer hospital bed days used in Gwent than in the previous year, a reduction of around 6 per cent.

An increase in delayed transfers of care from the Royal Gwent Hospital was identified as a potential risk in closing Penhow ward at St Woolos Hospital last July.

But that risk did not materialise, says the city council report, by Rob Sainsbury, head of integrated services (social care and health), and the closure will bring fullyear savings of £800,000.