MAKING sure healthy patients did not take up bed spaces for longer than they needed them last year helped social care teams in the borough to deal with the coronavirus.
Bracknell Forest Council’s (BFC) Chief Executive Timothy Wheadon praised the work of those working to reduce delayed transfers of care at a virtual executive meeting last night.
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Speaking about a report which outlines the council’s work from October 2019-December 2019, he said: “The information in the report relates to the third quarter of the year.
“Since the last [executive] meeting on the 10th of the March the world has completely changed.
“We’ve had strong performances in a number of areas and particularly in delayed transfers of care and hospital discharges, which is a good job and put us in a strong place for the events to come.”
Mr Wheadon’s report on the council’s activities indicated the council’s performance in reducing delayed transfers of care —which is when an adult is ready to be discharged but occupies a bed for longer than it is needed — had been recognised nationally.
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According to the report, performance over the Christmas period was “particularly effective” with a nil return on delays.
Cllr Dale Birch, BFC’s social care boss, said: “Some of the activities we were putting in place as a result of looking at accomodation have put us in good stead with a very strong team in to help people now.”
The meeting was held over video call on Tuesday, April 28 and was led by the leader of the council Paul Bettison.
Commenting on the council overview report, he said: “It is rather strange reading a peacetime report when we are in a situation which, while maybe not described as war, it is certainly no longer a peacetime situation.
“It’s a very different world we are in now than when we did everything that was in this report, but it is important still we go through that.”
Cllr Gareth Barnard highlighted the work of the children, young people and learning team noted in the report and praised the community’s response to the pandemic.
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He said: “I think the performance in Q3 put in some really good groundwork in terms of supporting children in Bracknell Forest during the current period.
“All our schools have really stepped up in terms of working with each other, with the local authority and other people to keep our children safe, to keep them supported and to work with them during the closure of the schools.”
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