A SCHEME which gives people help and advice on services available to them after they leave hospital is due to be formerly launched this month.
The Isle of Wight Council’s Adult and Community Services department have teamed up with Bournemouth based charity “Help and Care” and the Isle of Wight Primary Care Trust to provide the service on all acute wards at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport.
The service has been commissioned by the Isle of Wight Adult and Community Services Department – initially as a six month pilot. The service began in September this year and has seen more than 300 people in its first two months of operation.
It replaces the current referral system to Adult and Community Services which exists at St Mary’s with a brand new service that provides support and advice to patients who have concerns about how they will manage at home after they are discharged but who may not be eligible for support from social services.
The three strong Help and Care team are based in the old Gatcombe ward at St Mary’s Hospital. They provide information on a wide range of issues including benefits, help with shopping and cleaning and meal delivery services.
The team:
Provide the ward with a member of staff who will visit the ward daily.
Ask ward staff to identify patients who have any social care needs from worrying about whether they will be able to care for their pets to needing to find a residential placement.
Help and Care staff will visit the patient and liaise with family/carers/health and social care colleagues to determine what support the patient may need post discharge.
If the patient’s needs are complex and they require intensive ongoing support, Help and Care staff will pass the referral to Adult and Community Services for allocation and assessment
If the patient’s needs are simple or short term, Help and Care will deal with them e.g. accessing a range of community based services such as Wightcare, meal delivery services, private packages of care and so on.
The new service is set to be formally launched on November 28 at St Mary’s Hosptial in Newport by Councillor Dawn Cousins, the Isle of Wight Council’s cabinet member for health and well being.
The launch event will also be attended by representatives from Help and Care, the voluntary sector, the council and other agencies that help older people.
Cllr Cousins said: “Being in hosptial can be a very stressful time, particularly for older people. This new apporach aimes to alleviate some of the worries faced by people when they are in hospital by providing timely and appropriate information to them about the range of services that the council, health professionals and the voluntary sector can supply.”
Chief Nurse for Isle of Wight NHS PCT, Carol Alstrom, says she is “delighted” with how the scheme is working at St Mary’s.
“The support it provides is making a real difference to patients as they move through the health care system, and it is valued very highly by staff too,” she added. “I consider it an important part of our patient care”.
Kerri Harrison Help and Care Community Support Manager added: “We are delighted that in the first two months we have listened to and addressed the needs of over three hundred patients at St Mary’s hospital. The Help and Care screening service provides support, information and advice to the many patients that do have concerns about returning home after a stay in hospital.
We have received a very warm welcome from all of our colleagues on the island and look forward to helping many more people leave hospital feeling safe and happy in their own homes.”
CASE STUDY
Sylvia from Shanklin has recently returned home from hospital. Help and Care have arranged for a carer to visit Sylvia everyday whilst she is settling back home and have set up services to make sure she has everything she needs.
Sylvia said: “The Help and Care team have been very good in every way. They set up the meals on wheels service and I will use that on the days I feel I need it. It’s so nice to be home in my own surroundings and the lady at Help and Care said that I can ring anytime if I need help.”
