Controversial plans to offer homeowners up to £1,000 a month if they rent their spare rooms to the NHS in an Airbnb-style model have been scrapped.
The trust involved in the heavily criticised scheme has now said it has ‘no intention’ to support the pilot trial, which would see patients discharged into private homes.
It was devised as a radical way to free up hospital beds, as bed-blocking rates remain high amid the NHS’ preparations for another heavy winter.
Southend Hospital University Foundation Trust had previously been onboard with the scheme, devised by CareRooms – a start-up company.
But since the proposed plans were slammed by concerned critics yesterday, it has backed down and said there never has been any intention for such a scheme.
However, the Carerooms website is still allowing new registrations from those keen to sign up as hosts for a tidy extra income.
The plans asked for adults who signed up to cook three microwave meals for their patient each day, provide them with drinks and ‘offer conversation’.
The controversial plans are being funded by the NHS and councils, but patients may be able to pay CareRooms, the start-up company behind the plan, directly in future
Tom Abell, deputy chief executive of the trust, said in a statement today: ‘While we welcome and encourage new ideas and innovation, there is no intention and there never has been for the hospital to support this pilot at this time.
‘We will never compromise the safety and quality of care for patients and we will not support this pilot until the necessary safeguarding and quality arrangements are in place.’
An NHS England spokesman said: ‘While it’s good to hear innovative ideas from NHS staff, this suggestion from an A&E doctor in Southend is a long way from being implemented and would first need to be very carefully assessed and tested.’
The plans, uncovered by the Health Service Journal, didn’t require homeowners to have any prior care experience before housing their guest, but they are offered the opportunity to seek such training if desired.
The controversial scheme, believed to have been the first of its kind in the UK, would created ‘a safe, comfortable place for people to recuperate from hospital’.
It is expected to alleviate chronic bed shortages and stop delayed transfers of care, which are behind the worst bedblocking rates ever recorded by the NHS.
Angry campaigners were concerned that the plans, distributed by flyers in hospital canteens, would ‘open a huge can of worms’.
They also warned it is being advertised as money making venture for hosts, rather than emphasising care.
Each room will cost around £100 a night, with half going to the host. CareRooms would pocket the remainder, once care services had been paid for
Who is funding the plans?
The controversial plans would have been funded by the NHS and councils, but patients may be able to pay Carerooms directly in future.
Each room will cost around £100 a night, with half going to the host. CareRooms would pocket the remainder, once care services had been paid for.
The pilot would also have involved: Southend and Castlepoint, Rayleigh and Rochford CCGs; Essex County Council; and Southend Borough Council.
CareRooms warned that all homeowners would be vetted before they are allowed to host a patient.
Its website said host households would provide a room ‘with easy access to a private bathroom’, to help those recently discharged from hospital.
Who would be sent to the private homes?
Patients who had a minor procedure and lived alone would have been the ones sent to the private homes, and those whose family can’t provide sufficient care.
A company spokeswoman agreed the model was comparable to Airbnb – the website that allows people to rent out their spare rooms and properties.
It said hosts don’t need any previous care experience because any professional care would be provided by existing services.
It is expected to alleviate chronic bed shortages and stop delayed transfers of care, which are behind the worst bedblocking rates ever recorded by the NHS
Angry campaigners
The Save Southend A&E group warned the plans could scupper safeguarding procedures, and lead to financial abuse of people at their most vulnerable time.
It argued that the company was pitching itself as a money making venture for hosts, advertising opportunities to earn £1,000 a month, rather than emphasising care.
The campaign group, which consists of local residents and clinicians, added: ‘We are shocked that an NHS trust is endorsing such a company.’
The Association of Directors of Adult Social Services, a charity that aims to improve social care across the UK, also raised concerns.
It said ‘the model of care, as described, raises questions about whether the safety and wellbeing of the individual have been fully considered’.
CareRooms claimed only patients ‘medically fit for discharge’ would be given the opportunity to stay with a host.
Harry Thirkettle, the company’s medical director, said yesterday the scheme would adopt quality standards that are better than ‘standard practice’.
He said: ‘Everyone’s immediate concern is, understandably, safeguarding. We are working hard to be better than standard practice.
‘We are not going off half-cocked… We are really carefully considering this and making sure it is as safe as possible.’
Mr Thirkettle added that they wouldn’t begin to take on patients until they had satisfied the five organisations involved in the plans.
The pilot scheme, under consideration by NHS trusts and councils in Essex, could see adults without any care experience looking after newly released patients (England rugby world cup winner Lewis Moody’s Victorian, four-bedroom family home in Bradford-on-Avon, has previously been listed on the holiday accommodation site Airbnb)
Robust checks
He said hosts would face robust checks involving interviews, food hygiene training and cleanliness standards.
Mr Thirkettle said: ‘The proposition we are working on is that it is joint funded by NHS organisations and councils.
‘We may also look to take self-funding patients who pay us directly.’
Southend Hospital managing director Yvonne Blücher said CareRooms was one of several ‘innovative solutions’ being explored in Essex.
The CQC said yesterday it was unsure whether CareRooms would fall within its ‘scope of regulation’ – but will investigate further.