uare miles of
l thinking
d remote working is baked into the community
in the Highlands, hears Andrew Mickel
n is
will be
geography,
rivers. It’s
ive model is
tish Highlands.
board in
vary even
ritory – staff
East Ross are
been driven
locality
that, the
e Buurtzorg
eloped in the
to self-manage
nal therapy
was not
sale. ’I was
uurtzorg
after
‘We’ve
blement into
portant that
occupational
rhood teams,
into the
ion. ‘The
they were
s,’ says
he new
to make
ent and
t into each
team helps to avoid silo working, while daily
huddles in the new teams offer the opportunity
to discuss individual cases, share background
information and make sure the right person is
leading on the case.
And a new electronic-based notes system
is helping to better share and manage medical
histories and co-ordinate team working while
delivering efficiencies in practice.
‘We knew we needed to be in the middle of this
and really push for the appropriate use of resource,’
says Carole.
It was not a straightforward transition to a new
model; challenges included allocating staff to each
new neighbourhood team, as well as ensuring staff
in the new teams understood the occupational
therapist way of working, such as why it is worth
taking the time to institute reablement, rather than
immediately setting up a full care package. But that,
says occupational therapist Kirsty Mackinnon, has
been a two-way street.
‘At the start there was apprehension about the
huddles and people taking on a different role,’ she
says. ‘But while we needed to let other professions
know how we work, it was a really good learning
opportunity for ourselves too. How well do we really
know other professional roles?
‘We did a skills matrix to look at what shared
tasks existed within the team, so that if a client has
several needs, they don’t need several professionals
involved but just one to provide that continuity of
care.
‘It gave us an opportunity to get an
understanding of everyone’s individual role but
also look at our individual skills as well. It was a big
challenge and a change to the way we work, but it
was really eye-opening.’
The neighbourhood team model has helped
improve links not just between professions, but also
to cement the integration of health and social care
that was instituted back in 2012.