NHS ‘better equipped’ to deal with winter crisis after funding boost

NHS ‘better equipped’ to deal with winter crisis after funding boost  The NHS in England has said it is “better equipped” to deal with the surge in demand for health services during winter thanks to a “£420m boost”. Part of the extra money has gone towards upgrading emergency departments – expanding space, creating new treatment areas and adding bed capacity at 80 hospitals across the country. Most of the improvements were put in place before Christmas, officials said. NHS England said the funding is making it easier to transfer patients from A&E to different wards and speed up their test results, helping to better manage the number of patient beds in use. Health officials said they expect the benefit from the schemes will be the equivalent of an additional 900 beds this winter. iNews