There are calls for Gloucestershire’s beleaguered hospitals to receive more funding as patients regularly face ten hour waits to be treated at A&E.

Cheltenham Borough councillors say there is a desperate need for more staff, bed capacity and medical equipment at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and Cheltenham General.

They want the Government to provide more support and say the health service does not have enough beds in the county.

Speaking at Monday’s (December 6) council meeting, Council leader Rowena Hay (Lib Dem, Oakley) said councils across the South West have sent a joint letter to central government raising their concerns.

She said a recent survey highlighted there are more than 155,000 vacancies for nurses and a shortage of 100,000 carers across the country.

“This is a national issue, not just in health but social care as well,” she said.

“So many of our hospitals are stuck with beds because there is such a shortage of care workers.

“However dedicated and fantastic our health workers are, the situation we now face is unsustainable and we need a much more fundamental review of our health and care services that includes better investment and pay that is if we are to genuinely tackle the problem.”

Cllr Flo Clucas (Lib Dem, Swindon Village) said there were currently 200 people occupying hospital beds in Gloucestershire who should be elsewhere.

“We don’t have the number of beds available that we should have. Not enough beds at all,” she said.

“We simply do not have enough medical personnel to make a real difference right now or even tomorrow or even five years from now because those people are not in training.

“We need more beds, more people and better facilities.

“If we don’t get them, the situation we have now, I fear, will worsen.”

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and NHS Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group said in a joint statement that health and care partners continue to work together to provide the best care for our communities.

“We recognise that locally all NHS and care services face ongoing challenges in response to winter pressures and COVID-19, which includes discharging patients from the hospital back home or into the community,” a spokesperson said.

“Over the winter a range of support has been put in place across Gloucestershire, including an additional £2m of funding.

“We are introducing a new clinical assessment service for NHS 111/Out of Hours to increase clinical support and advice to people remaining at home or being directed and booked into local NHS services.

“Joint services are in place to assess, treat and support older people to return home from hospital on the same day, and further investment has been made in additional NHS funded beds, including in the independent sector.

“When patients are admitted to hospital, we are working to ensure arrangements are in place for people to leave hospital safely, with additional staff working in the hospital to home teams, an increase in access to reablement and domiciliary (home) care staff to provide nursing care for patients at home and more joined up care in the community through our rapid response services.

“Finally, our local voluntary partners are also providing a follow up service to ensure patients are being supported to remain at home after leaving hospital.”