Care home residents to have seven days a week access to GPs to cut the number of unplanned admissions to A&E

Wednesday, January 17, 2018

Care home residents will have access to GP’s seven days a week under a new pilot study led by the North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (NSCHT). Twenty-eight care homes in North Staffordshire, with the highest emergency hospital admissions will be taking part in the pilot.

These care homes will have access to rapid primary care and multi-disciplinary team (MDT) response, Seven days a week, 8am – 8pm. NSCHT believes this will see a 50% reduction in the number of unplanned attendees to A&E from these care homes.

This is just one of a number of actions included in the CQC Stoke-on-Trent Local System Review Improvement Plan. Coordination of the plan has been led by North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (NSCHT) with leads from each organisation, Healthwatch and the voluntary sector attending two workshops to develop proposals. Overall development of the plan has been overseen by Chief Executive Officers (or equivalent) from each organisation.

Senior leaders from Stoke-on-Trent City Council, Stoke-on-Trent Clinical Commissioning Group, North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust (NSCHT), University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust (UHNM), Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Partnership NHS Trust (SSOTP) have committed to work together to develop the improvement plan in response to the CQC Review of Local Health and Social Care System – Stoke-On-Trent Report.

The CQC report published in November 2017 found that health and social care services in Stoke-On-Trent were failing older people. The CQC identified that the system has too many residential care homes, nursing care homes and social care homes that are rated as Inadequate or Requires Improvement.

Other proposals included in the CQC Stoke-on-Trent Local System Review Improvement Plan to help increase the quality of care provided at care and nursing homes, reduce the number of admissions from care and nursing homes to A&E and for more patients to die in their place of preference include:

  • Developing an integrated care home and nursing home quality improvement strategy including the review of contractual requirements of care homes e.g. admission criteria, trusted assessments.
  • Pilot Care Excellence Framework through UHNM with the “Safe Harbour” group of care homes. If successful this will be rolled out to other care homes in North Staffordshire if commissioned.
  • Develop training through the Care Home project
  • Support Care homes to ensure that all patients have appropriate ceilings of care and advanced decisions in place.
To read the full CQC Stoke-on-Trent Local System Review Improvement Plan click here.

Working from offices in Hanley and Walsall, Cream Health Care is a name that is synonymous with Health & Social Care recruitment throughout Staffordshire. Established in 2009 we have become the first choice Health & Social Care Agency for job seekers and employers throughout the region.

To contact the Cream Team about recruitment send an e-mail to: info@creamhealthcare.co.uk or call: 01782 261552.