Coalville Community Hospital is to get an additional ward as part of a £9 million investment across Leicestershire.

The countywide plans means a major recruitment drive is under way with around 150 staff needed to support delivering care to patients for what will be an additional 52 beds.

The announcement was made by the Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust this morning (Tuesday).

Beds will be spread across the Trust's existing network of community inpatient wards and will include one extra inpatient ward at Coalville Community Hospital - up from two at present.

There will also be one additional ward at Loughborough Hospital - up from one at present - as well as the existing beds at other inpatient sites, Hinckley and Bosworth Community Hospital, Melton Mowbray Hospital, Rutland Memorial Hospital, St Luke's Hospital (Market Harborough), and the two-ward unit at the Evington Centre in Leicester.

The additional staff needed include care professional posts for nurses and healthcare assistants, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, as well as support roles such as ward clerks and housekeepers.

LPT's community hospitals provide specialist rehabilitation, end of life care and care for patients who no longer need acute hospital treatment but are not yet well enough to return home.

Dr Rekash Inamdar, GP and clinical lead for Home First with the LLR ICB, said: "As part of our local NHS Recovery Programme, we have invested funding into a significant number of intermediate care beds with rehabilitation to help people move from hospital into more appropriate settings for their needs.

"Our vision is to adopt a consistent Home First approach, underpinned by intermediate care, that ensures people are supported to return home safely and remain independent, in their usual place of residence, for as long as possible.

"We are working with local authorities and voluntary and community partners in order to achieve this expansion of 'step-down' care. In order to do this, more staff are now needed for the opportunity to support this project and our vision to improve care for people in our communities."

Nikki Beacher, a deputy director at LPT, said: "This extra capacity will help provide the right care in the right place for patients of LLR and support our colleagues working in ambulance services and emergency departments by enabling flow out of the hospital."

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