Personalised, seamless care services for local people are at the heart of a new nation-wide community to drive up quality of care, share knowledge and shape policy, Health Minister Mike O’Brien and Care Services Minister Phil Hope announced today.
NHS Tameside and Glossop is part of this exciting initiative. We are one of the 16 sites in the country chosen to take part in the Integrated Care Pilot (ICP) programme, which enable local organisations to take a fresh look at how health and social care can be provided based around the needs of local people. The initial success of the schemes mean they are now being expanded across the country, making us pioneers for national healthcare.
ICP puts people at the centre of planning the care and support they need, and explores ways of delivering care closer to the patient’s home. Our programme is focussing on reducing CVD (cardiovascular disease), including heart disease and stroke. Tackling premature death from circulatory disease is one of our five key health priorities in the area and working with people who have or are ‘at risk’ of becoming ill.
The programme will help our target group to take control of their health, set their own goals and reduce their chances of suffering illness or premature death.
The pilot is operating in Hyde and Dukinfield initially, with a view to rolling out across the whole of Tameside and Glossop when improvements are demonstrated. The Department of Health will help evaluate the pilot against a set of national and local measures, to see if it improves health outcomes, the quality of care, and user service satisfaction.
The national expansion means that initial pilots like Tameside and Glossop are now the pioneers of a new nationwide community to share best practice and shape government policy.
The pilot will develop a new service model that builds on existing provision, expanding it to provide a more integrated approach involving social services, primary and secondary care and the voluntary sector. The model will create a system that promotes the whole pathway from pre-disease to the management of complex care. This involves raising risk awareness through social marketing and campaigns, provision of a CVD risk assessment screen, developing personalised care plans, and providing health improvement and self care programmes.
This will be delivered through multi-disciplinary services to make best use of the skill mix of clinicians and other professionals across all disciplines and organisations, for example health trainers, practice nurses and care workers. A series of consultations have taken place with local people to ensure that the services are developing in a way which suits them.
Melanie Sirotkin, Director of Public Health said “While we are still in the early stages, we are confident that our ICP will have a real impact on local rates of CVD in the future and we are working closely with the local community to ensure the services we provide meet their needs.”
Care Services Minister Phil Hope said: “If local NHS and social care services work together, we can cut costs and improve people’s quality of life. Our new network will help showcase services, share best practice and drive up the quality of care across the country.
“We will soon set out a blueprint for a new National Care Service that is fair, simple and affordable for all adults in England. It will build on the best elements of the current system, such as joined-up services that provide people with seamless and personalised care and support.”