EXTRA critical care beds and the setting up of a multi-disciplinary care team to improve patients' recovery are the key targets for more than £1.6 million of recurrent health funding heading Gwent's way from this year.
The money - £1,642,000 a year in total - comes from a £15m annual boost for critical care services across Wales.
It will help support an Aneurin Bevan University Health Board plan to increase by two - to 25 - the number of critical care beds in Gwent's acute hospitals this year, ahead of a move for all these services in 2021 to the new Grange University Hospital at Llanfrechfa, when another bed will open.
The bulk of the funding will be invested in the staff - nurses and healthcare support workers - required to enable to opening of the extra critical care beds.
But there will also be investment in a range of other key posts linked to providing a broad range of support for critical care patients during their recovery
This will include funding for a clinical psychologist's post - currently paid for out of another funding stream that is due to end in December.
This is seen as an increasing important piece of support for patients recovering from serious ill health or injury, who have had to spend time in critical care.
For many, there are big gaps in their memories of treatment and care, and some struggle to understand issues such as hallucinations and vivid dreams they have whilst in critical care, as well as having to recover from the illness or injury that resulted in them having to be there in the first place.
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Improving patients' psychological wellbeing is seen as key for their overall recovery, and in reducing readmissions to hospital.
There will also be investment in the development of an integrated therapies team (including physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, and speech and language therapy) to help provide early rehabilitation.
This can in turn reduce both patients' length of stay in a critical care unit, and the likelihood of readmission to the unit. It can also improve their outcomes on a more long term basis.
Among the projected benefits of the overall workforce investment is a reduction of three-five days in patients' length of stay, in turn leading to improved access for others, and improved support for - and retention of - staff.
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