NHS England is to trial a new scheme to help older people to remain well at home and avoid hospital admissions. Under the new plans, expert rapid response teams will be on hand within two hours, giving those who need it fast access to a range of qualified professionals who can address their health and social care needs, including physiotherapy and occupational therapy, medication prescribing and reviews, and help with staying well-fed and hydrated.
Local health service and council teams will begin the roll out of Urgent Community Response teams from April. Shifting more care out of hospital and into the community is the first of five major improvements in how the changing health needs of the country will be met over the coming decade, as set out in the NHS Long Term Plan last year.
Backed by £14 million investment, seven ‘accelerator’ sites will be the first to deliver the new standards for care, working together to standardise how urgent community services will be measured, and delivered consistently across the country, 365 days a year.
A two-day standard will also apply for teams to put in place tailored packages of intermediate care, or reablement services, for individuals in their own homes, with the aim of restoring independence and confidence after a hospital stay.
NHS teams in seven parts of the country will begin working with their local authority counterparts on developing the services and recruiting staff from April, with the ambition that at least three areas will be fully up and running by next winter.
Further areas across England will receive extra funding to begin working to the new standards from 2021, with every part of the country covered by April 2023.
This will be supported by an additional £4.5 billion a year for primary care and community services by 2023/24.
Matthew Winn, NHS Director of Community Health and Chief Executive of Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust says: “For the first time in its 71-year history, NHS national plans prioritise community health services, providing a genuine opportunity to do something different when caring for people facing a health crisis at home.”
With the previous lack of national expectations or strategy for the support provided to people at home from health and social care systems, there is wide variation in how these services are delivered across the country. At present, no part of the country is consistently delivering community urgent care services 365 days a year in line with these new national standards – meaning that all areas are expected to see a significant improvement in the offer to local people.
The seven accelerator sites selected to develop the two-hour/two-day NHS standards include partnerships of providers of community health services, NHS commissioners, councils and adult social care teams, and 111 and ambulance services.
The plans have been welcomed by UNISON, but Assistant General Secretary, Christina McAnea warns: “There can be no quick fix for social care.” She adds that chronic underfunding of the social care system is to blame for the failure to support older people before they hit crisis point.
The seven accelerator sites are:
• Warrington Together (Cheshire and Merseyside STP)
• West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership (Kirklees)
• Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland system
• Cornwall system
• Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire system
• South East London system
• Norfolk and Waveney system
