2,600 patients stopped from bed-blocking by firefighters

Support schemes are set to be extended

- Kerry Ashdown

FIRE service support schemes for patients who need assistance to return home from hospital or after a fall are to be extended.

The Falls Response Service, which aims to cut ambulance waits and hospital stays by responding to residents who have fallen but not suffered any injuries, has attended more than 2,300 calls since it went live in December 2022.

The Home from Hospital service, which was launched in December 2023 to assist the NHS in discharging patients from Royal Stoke University Hospital during the busy winter period, has been used more than 2,600 times, a report to the latest Fire and Rescue Service public performance meeting revealed.

Chief Fire Officer Rob Barber, speaking at the meeting said the partnership with health services was going from strength to strength.