A scheme trialled in Bolton between care homes and the NHS aimed at keeping people out of busy hospitals has reported major successes.
The pilot scheme, which encouraged care homes to contact Bolton NHS Foundation Trust’s Admissions Avoidance team before ambulance crews, took place over last year.
This has helped to make sure people have avoided needing to take unnecessary trips to hospital, with the Bakewells Care Home in Deane, co-run by Cllr Andy Morgan, one of several to benefit.
Cllr Morgan said: “It’s been a very effective initiative and it’s a very reasonable idea because the more people we can make sure don’t need to go to hospital, the better.
“We’ve had several of our residents here who haven’t needed to go to hospital because of this.”
He added: “We’ve always played our part in it, I think most care homes do, but I think they’ve really stepped it up recent because of the winter pressures on the hospital.
“We’ve had two people in our care home just this week who have benefited.”
Cllr Morgan, who represents Heaton, Lostock and Chew Moor on Bolton Council, said that he hoped this would also help take pressures off the NHS.
The initiative forms part of the NHS’s two-hour urgent community response service.
This is a national project aimed at providing older people with fast access to care whil taking pressure off hospital and ambulance services.
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust says that its trial period in the borough showed more referrals to the Admission Avoidance Team and fewer calls to North West Ambulance Service.
There were also significantly fewer people needing to go to Royal Bolton Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department.
One care home recorded a 68 per cent of people going to A&E and a 65 per cent drop in the number hospital admissions.
Admissions Avoidance clinical lead Duncan Mayoh said: “We’re identifying ways of being able to ease pressure off our busy urgent care services by providing support to people out in the community, in the place they call home.
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"Care homes in Bolton are now able to reach out to us directly for fast access to urgent care, where our highly-skilled team support those patients without them ever needing to step into the back of an ambulance or through the front door of our Emergency Department.
“If care home staff have concerns and think someone needs admission to hospital then they should contact us.
“This is a local health system working together and at its best by reaching patients before their conditions worsen, ensure they’re receiving excellent care quickly and safely, and freeing up much-needed capacity in other areas.”
Bolton NHS Foundation Trust say they are now hoping to roll out the initiative across more care homes around the borough.
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