Bringing together health and social care
Louisa Durose , occupational therapist , Wrexham County Borough Council , explains how a pilot Integrated Care Fund project is creating a more seamless service and helping people to live as independently as possible in their own home
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In October 2018 , it was evident that shortfalls in domiciliary care in Wrexham were at a tipping point , presenting a perilous situation for Wrexham citizens at the onset of winter pressures . As outlined by the NHS Confederation briefing document Seamless service to improve outcomes for people ( NHS Confederation 2018 ), services are increasingly moving from hospitals into communities to reduce the need for critical care , to expedite discharge , to give people more control over their care and to improve patient outcomes . Comparably , the Welsh Government has pledged a commitment to enable integrated working between social services and health , housing , residential homes and third sector organisations , based on the Social
Services and
Wellbeing ( Wales ) Act 2014 principles of integration and prevention .
During a meeting with health colleagues at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board , it was agreed that a more seamless and efficacious approach was needed between health and social care and so senior management at Wrexham Borough County Council spearheaded a pilot of an Integrated Care Fund ( ICF ) project
The project utilised a two-pronged method of intervention via an in-reach and step-down service . Social care occupational therapists are best placed in assessing the home environment and what adaptations or equipment is needed to facilitate safe discharge and , by supporting health colleagues in hospital discharge , the in-reach model saw our occupational therapists work across healthcare boundaries to achieve the best outcomes for people .
The step-down model ensured citizens were discharged to the most appropriate setting for further therapeutic input before returning home .
Our integrated model benefitted from the appointment of health physiotherapists who , through a tailored secondment , were able to provide invaluable therapies to citizens who would normally need to wait for community physiotherapy input , thereby speeding up the discharge process and quickly establishing their mobility baselines and preventing deconditioning . Ellie Connolly , currently placed within the ICF team says : ‘ After four years in the health setting in acute and community hospitals ,
I have
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30 OTnews October 2021