The primary purpose of Integrated Care is to ensure that citizens have a better experience of care and support, experience less inequality and achieve better outcomes. Health, social care, third sector and independent services should be designed and delivered to promote and maximise well-being; enabling the person to live independently in their community for as long as possible with services being provided in the person’s own home or within community settings to avoid the need for ongoing, acute or institutional care.
The ICF Grant was provided by WG for the financial year 2014/15. It was identified that this was one year funding aimed at Older People and must be for a programme of work that was in addition to existing provision and in line with the new Health & Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014.
What’s changed?
Conwy Social Care Service worked in partnership to develop projects under 4 themes:
THEME 1 – Enhance integration, and remove barriers to integrated working, across Local Authorities, Health, Third and Independent Sectors
THEME 2 – Strengthen the reablement ethos and enhance community based services
THEME 3 – Provide more responsive services
THEME 4 – Avoid unnecessary hospital / care admissions
What difference has it made? Just a flavour of some of the projects…
Wellbeing Programme: The development of a programme of wellbeing supports the older people in Conwy through provision of social opportunities, mental stimulation, the opportunity to develop friendships and a support network, providing a purpose to the day. The aiming to help older people in particular to remain healthy and living independently within their own communities.
Telecare training support for pharmacists: to assist people to take their medication independently. The project enabled appropriate use of the Pivotell medication dispenser, and the development of a Regional policy and procedure for the using the dispenser.
Occupational Therapy (OT) Property Matching Service coordinators: The staff identified properties that have had a Disabled Facilities Grant which are no longer in use by the person the property was adapted for, and consider any potential individuals whose needs could be met in that property and support their move as opposed to removing the adaptation.
Care and Repair RRAP and assessor: The Community Assessors provided a call-in service at all acute and community hospitals to assist with effective and rapid hospital discharges. This provides assistance to older people through visiting them in their own homes and undertaking assessments and providing advice. The Community Assessors will be able to effectively utilise the RRAP and ILG funding to provide best outcomes for patients following appropriate Health or Social Care referral.
Short term extra care apartments: Conwy have used some of its ICF funding to develop two additional short term flats in its latest extra care housing schemes. The flats provide up to two weeks accommodation and support for older people throughout a 24 hour period. The scheme offers a short term stay in extra care housing where domiciliary care and support is available 24 hours a day dependant on need. Health needs can be managed to the same level as district nursing. Telecare is installed in each flat and support is available from onsite care and support team, the reablement team and Conwy Intermediate Care.
Pilot response service: Piloting the community support workers located at Conwy’s Extra Care housing [1 east and 1 west] to provide the Telecare night-time response service 7 nights per week. This ensures whole time support to meet the needs of the individual and reducing the burden on the emergency services.