Patients offered care closer to home to ease hospital pressure

Officials from the GP-led NHS Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), working with North Yorkshire County Council and other NHS organisations, say the programme involves a series of projects to improve access to care in the community.

Its focus will be on elderly patients and those with long-term conditions including respiratory disease, diabetes and heart problems.

Patients with a high risk of being admitted to hospital will be given packages of care to prevent their condition deteriorating, allowing them to stay at home.

Teams of health and social care staff will work together to devise the plans, while evening services until 10pm for people with urgent care needs will be stepped up to also prevent hospital admissions.

Individual support will be offered to people leaving hospital to help them settle back to life at home.

Patients with the respiratory condition chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma and heart failure will be helped to better use their medicines and health trainers will give people with long-term conditions one-to-one support.

Better links with care homes will also be created through the appointment of dedicated nurses to support patients.

GP Phil Garnett, chairman of the CCG, said: “This programme of work is a really positive step forward for patient care in the area.

“It’s important, now more than ever, that we look at how we can better support patients in the community and avoid the risk of them needing hospital treatment – particularly as the number of elderly people living in the area is on the rise and in light of the pressures on our A&E departments.

“Our ageing population, which will see the number of over 65s increase by 30 per cent by 2021, will bring real challenges for NHS and social care organisations as demand for services increases.”

Coun Clare Wood, executive member for health and adult services at North Yorkshire County Council, said: “It is the goal of both organisations to improve how care is delivered to people through better integration of health and social care services.

“These programmes aim to reduce duplication and provide more streamlined and co-ordinated health and social care which is designed around people’s needs.”