The colder months sees the NHS experience winter pressures in response to increased demand for services, due to seasonal illnesses such as colds, flu, and other viral infections.
These seasonal challenges, coupled with resource limitations, create bottlenecks that affect both patient outcomes and healthcare delivery. Medical facilities are pushed to capacity, and emergency departments see a sharp increase in patient numbers, leading to longer wait times and resource shortages.
The main challenges during winter pressures
Year on year, reports indicate that many hospitals who are already under “extreme pressure” are seeing increased demand in emergency and unscheduled care departments, where patient demand can be harder to predict and ultimately, resource for.
While healthcare workers are doing all they can, a lack of beds during winter pressures means that many patients are having to wait significantly longer than normal to receive care. Without being addressed properly, this scenario could happen more often.
Last year (2023), during the winter flu cases peaked and data showed that there were 2,478 patients in hospital with flu each day which is 2.5 times higher than 2022.
Simply put, the NHS faces extreme pressure to consistently provide for increasing patient numbers and does not have the additional support, infrastructure or equipment needed to help them do so effectively.
Winter pressures funding
In a letter from the NHS Chief Executive, Amanda Pritchard, she outlines the organisation’s plans to boost capacity and resilience with funding ahead of winter, providing “extra bed capacity and better support for staff”.
Some keyways the NHS is planning to enhance their winter resilience plans includes:
- Better support for people in the community, to help reduce pressures on GPs, social care and hospital admissions
- Maximise bed capacity and support ambulance services to reduce care delays
- Improve timely discharge and expedite those who are clinically ready to leave hospital by ensuring they have the support in place
However, when it comes to NHS funding to combat winter pressures, this typically comes too late. For 2024, additional funding is rumoured to be announced in the Autumn Statement on 30th October, but details are few and far between.
Previously, the NHS has asked for approximately £1bn to ease pressures and mitigate impact on other services, but it remains to be seen how the new Chancellor will respond to such calls.
Ultimately, the NHS needs increased resilience in place to better respond to annual winter pressures, adopting a proactive rather than reactive approach.
How could flexible finance help?
Flexible finance solutions are a quick and efficient way of supporting healthcare organisations to respond to both short and long-term challenges.
At SAF Solutions, we work with a wide range of healthcare suppliers, including medical bed specialists and surgical equipment providers to develop alternative procurement methods that allow the investment in new equipment without the need for upfront capital.
We provide bespoke flexible finance solutions that are made to suit financial drivers and accounting requirements, whilst being structured around a repayment profile that suits the needs and demands of end-users.
One of these solutions is our Pay-Per-Use solution, which enables NHS Trusts to access essential medical equipment from the best suppliers through a Pay-Per-Use model. This solution allows Trusts to avoid the need for CDEL (Capital Departmental Expenditure Limits) allocation by utilising revenue budgets, as payment is made only when the facility is used.
Overall, this solution helps increase hospital capacity and enhance patient care, while providing a flexible approach that benefits both NHS Trusts and equipment suppliers.
Why should healthcare providers consider flexible finance?
Within the public sector, there is often a complex system of requests, approvals, and sign-off processes, resulting in a reduced scope to be reactive when needed.
Whilst it is well known that the NHS will face exacerbated pressures for services in the winter months, funding is often given reactively, rather than proactively, which does not allow hospitals to plan for increased patient demand.
With rising energy costs, inflation and ongoing economic uncertainty, key NHS decision makers should look to explore alternative procurement routes which would allow the
NHS to be more resilient to the challenges posed by winter pressures.
Within the NHS, finance solutions such as a Managed Service Agreement (MSA) are also VAT recoverable. MSA’s incorporate hard and soft services such as maintenance, cleaning, and equipment into an agreement on new facilities or expansions to existing infrastructure, allow Trusts to claim VAT back, reducing the overall investment cost.
What are the benefits of flexible finance for medical equipment?
For suppliers, offering a flexible finance solution provides a host of benefits, including:
- Supporting the healthcare sector: a finance solution makes equipment more accessible to budget-challenged organisations, who don’t have the capital to invest in new equipment.
- Enhanced trust with end-users: a bespoke finance solution that aligns with an organisation’s budget and other financial requirements shows an increased understanding of unique challenges, helping to be positioned as a trusted supplier.
- Close more sales: ultimately, this alternative procurement route will secure more sales, removing the lengthy approval processes typically associated with significant outright investment
For NHS trusts and other healthcare organisations, procuring new equipment via a flexible finance agreement will facilitate:
- Spread the cost: flexible finance solutions allow the finance team to structure the repayments in a way that suits budgets and forecasts
- Increased resilience and stability: investing in new products help hospitals and medical centres run more efficiently, enhancing patient care delivery and unlocking future opportunities
- Release capital for investment elsewhere: finance agreements provide steadiness to cashflows, allowing capital to be utilised elsewhere, typically for facility maintenance or repair work
We explore more about how organisations can make the most of their budgets by leveraging flexible finance agreements here.
How SAF can help
With more than 20 years of experience developing structured financial solutions for the public and private sector, SAF’s expert team have an in-depth understanding of public sector budgeting challenges and have already implemented effective funding solutions for numerous NHS Trusts across the UK.
From modular facilities to equipment procurement, we’re experts in devising structured financial solutions that ensure positive outcomes for both suppliers and end users.
Read our range of case studies and get in touch with info@saf-solutions.com today to find out how we could support combatting winter pressures.