Acute care programme is expanded in Cornwall
A scheme to reduce the number of patients admitted to a Plymouth hospital has been expanded in Cornwall.
The Acute Care At Home service will dispatch nurses to tend to patients in the north and east of the county.
It is hoped the service will mean fewer people will have to travel to Derriford Hospital for acute treatment.
The £300,000 investment was made by the Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group (KCCG) which is made up of local GPs and other clinicians.
The money will also be used to support some patients in central and west Cornwall served by the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust. The scheme already operates in the west of the county.
Liskeard GP Grant Stevens said: "Initially we expect the roll-out of this service to benefit up to 700 patients in the north and east, ensuring we prevent their unnecessary use of acute hospital beds in Plymouth."
He added he hoped the service would also enable people to return home from hospital more quickly.
KCCG is the shadow commissioner of health services for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly and hopes to become the commissioner of NHS services next April.