New service in High Peak to reduce hospital admissions for non-medical emergencies
A NEW service in the High Peak is fast-tracking professionals to quicker help for non-medical emergencies in a bid to reduce unnecessary 999 calls and hospital admissions.
The established Local Navigation Hub is running the new service which fast-tracks help for clinicians who find themselves with a patient with an urgent non-clinical need they cannot meet quickly.
The Hub is usually an urgent community response service which allows any health and care professional in the area to call a one-stop-shop phone number about patients needing urgent clinical care which can be delivered better at home. It led to more than 7,000 home visits in the last two years.
This new service now expands its offer to non-clinical needs.
It is run by the High Peak ‘Team Up’ team including doctors, advanced practitioners, nurses and adult social care who sit together at the Cavendish Hospital in Buxton. Team Up, which operates across all the Derby and Derbyshire neighbourhoods, provides reactive and proactive care to people permanently or temporarily (e.g. due to illness) unable to leave their homes.
Angela Pownall, Team Up Derbyshire, Operations Manager in the High Peak, said: “Team Up in the High Peak is always aiming to adapt and grow, and this is an example of how we want to try to serve our population needs.
“We’d noticed that there were more and more examples of people ending up in hospital because there was no other pathway available for clinicians. For example, we had a homeless person who had collapsed in the street, but he did not need medical treatment. The paramedic was with him but didn’t want to leave him vulnerable with no fixed abode.
“The paramedic was able to call our number, and we fast tracked the man to a housing service and local charity groups to ensure he was safe. This also freed up the paramedic who would otherwise have been held up, had to leave a vulnerable person or admit him to hospital. So many unnecessary admissions happen because we don’t have a swift and viable alternative for clinicians but Team Up’s connection with other agencies can really help improve care for people and save the system time and money.”
The Local Navigation Hub has been running this service for a few months now with referrals increasing each month. They have had 29 referrals from paramedics, out of hours GPs, social prescribers and the discharge team as well as 17 enhanced falls recovery referrals from NHS 111.
It helps clinicians navigate the health and care system so patients who need a social care package or adaptions in their home can leave hospital A&E departments safely and more quickly
They work closely with the hospital discharge teams to get people Home First but are also now able to step people up into one of the community support beds at Thomas Fields Hospital in a more proactive model to prevent admissions in the first place.
Ian Lawrence, who runs the Team Up team, said: “It’s fantastic that the Team Up model can be flexible to local needs and that we have innovators in each team always thinking about how we can adapt and grow based on our local populations.
“Being able to provide preventative care rather than always being reactive to a busy urgent and emergency care system is not only better for patients but it also relieves pressure on our hard-working front-line staff. It just shows how neighbourhood models of care make a difference and can understand and be responsive to changing need.”
Any health or care professional in the High Peak can call the local navigation hub number to access any of these services and will be directed to the most appropriate team. The number is: 07780458673.