Northamptonshire County Council, local NHS, voluntary and independent sector organisations
Think Home First is a system-wide initiative designed to improve how patients move between health and social care services following a hospital stay or attendance at A&E.
We bring together:
- Integrated hospital discharge teams
- Rapid response teams commissioned from the voluntary sector (SERVE) to provide immediate access to personal care, a handyman, transport and benefits services
- A Community Task Force to identify the most appropriate services for patients to help avoid a stay in hospital or keep it as short as possible.
The team was established following a study in April 2009 that showed that 28% of the 1600 patients audited were receiving care in the ‘wrong’ place ie they were in hospital when they could have been at home or in community based services.
We aim to make ‘Think Home First’ the central message and encourage staff to use more home based services that can provide more choice and control for users and carers.
Information sharing is key to all the teams working effectively together. We have made much progress in joining up information systems and equipping the teams for mobile working.
Think Home First has decreased the length of time taken from referral to assessment - with a 24 hour turnaround for most cases in the acute trusts. The rapid response teams have saved 582 acute bed days and 254 community hospital bed days - assuming an average of £200 per day this translates into £167,200 in four months.
The number of available beds in community hospitals and Specialist Care Centres has increased from an average of 10 – 25 and more people have been able to have rehabilitation at home and through day services rather than in hospital.
Contact Details:Carol Cowie and John Quirke at ccowie@northamptonshire.gov.uk / jquirke@northamptonshire.gov.uk
