NHFT opens more new hospital beds for ‘extended stay’ community rehabilitation care
Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (NHFT) has opened 10 new community hospital beds providing rehabilitation care for people with complex needs.
The launch of the new 'extended stay' beds on 27 October is part of a wider plan to increase NHFT's community inpatient care capacity at Spinneyfields Care Centre in Rushden - one of six community hospital sites operated by the Trust across Northamptonshire.
The new beds provide specialist care for people who need extra support to help them get fit and ready to return home after an acute hospital stay. This might be because they are living with a complex long-term health condition, or they are waiting for special adaptations at home or support in the community before they can be discharged.
NHFT has bolstered its existing community hospital team at Spinneyfields by successfully recruiting more nurses, healthcare assistants and therapists to provide care and support for the extended stay patients.
Asmita Sedhai, Service Manager for Community Hospital Beds at NHFT, said: "We're really pleased to welcome our new colleagues to the team as we continue to grow the support we offer across Northamptonshire for people in need of clinical and rehabilitation care.
"Our 10 new extended stay beds are here for people with complex needs who might otherwise face very long stays in an acute hospital after an injury or an episode of illness. It's better for them because it means they get the specialist help they really need in their recovery - and it's better for others, too, because it frees up more acute hospital beds for people who need more urgent medical care."
The opening of the new extended stay beds is the latest phase in NHFT's continuing plan to provide more community beds at Spinneyfields. It follows the opening of 15 rehabilitation beds at the site in June 2025.
Preparations are also being made for more beds to be opened at Spinneyfields over the coming weeks and months for adults needing specialist care following a period of acute delirium. Once complete, it is expected that 51 beds in total will be open at the site - significantly increasing NHFT's community hospital capacity across the county.
Anne Rackham, Chief Operating Officer at NHFT, added: "Growing our community bed capacity means more local people have access to high-quality rehabilitation care in the right place at the right time. Locally, this contributes towards a more effective and sustainable health and social care system in Northamptonshire, while nationally it supports one of the three key shifts of the national NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England - to move more care into the community."
Recruitment is under way for a variety of new roles as part of the increase in bed capacity at Spinneyfields. For more information about jobs at NHFT, visit www.nhft.nhs.uk/jobs