NHS North Staffs Avoidance Team

PATIENTS HAVE THEIR SAY ON SERVICE THAT CAN SAVE LIVES

Local people are being given the chance by NHS North Staffordshire to help shape a major new health project to treat and assess people in their own homes – instead of hospital - in what is believed to be the first project of its kind in the country.

The Specialist Community Team is now being set up to help people with long term health problems such as Diabetes, heart failure and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, (COPD).

To help set up the team, local people with Diabetes, heart failure or COPD, and their carers, are being invited to give their ideas about how the service could help them at a special event at The Moat House Hotel, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent.

Organisers are looking for ten local people to join an invited audience of local GPs and health specialists to hear about the project and give ideas at the event on Wednesday, 6 May, from 1pm to 5pm.

The new Specialist Community Team will not only provide community clinics, but also treat people in their own homes to assess them and, if appropriate, also give treatment so patients can avoid trips to the hospital. Each of the three diseases will have a dedicated “flying squad” made up of specialist nurses and three consultant doctors using specialist diagnostic equipment.

Patients will be registered with the project and if they think their condition has worsened then they can call a dedicated phone number between 8am and 8pm, 365 days a year. Within two hours, they will be visited by the Specialist Community Team who will assess the patient and decide a course of treatment at home or admission to hospital.

The team will be able to carry out a series of complex medical tests using specialist equipment, which is traditionally only available in hospitals. This will include, for example, a blood gas analyser.

As part of the Fit for the Future Programme to treat people in their local communities, the team aims to reduce the hospital admissions for people with long term medical conditions who are taking part in the programme by 35% and move out 75% of current out-patient appointments into more convenient community locations.

Darren Gibbons, NHS North Staffordshire’s Head of Commissioning for Long Term Conditions, is organising the event.

He said: “What makes this project unique is that it is the only one of its kind in the country that covers the three long term medical conditions of diabetes, COPD and heart failure with one specialist team. We have devised this new project because we found that many people suffered from a combination of health conditions and that treatment in the home can help to prevent a hospital admission.

“We will be bringing treatment right into people’s living rooms, with expert medical advice and specialist equipment, to help people stay in their own homes without having to go to hospital for treatment

“The aim is to provide early, quick and convenient diagnosis and treatment so that people can either be treated in their own home or, if they have very complex and specialist needs, they can be transferred to hospital.”

Anyone interested in attending the event to hear more about the project and give ideas on how it can help patients should contact Stacey Thursfield on 0845 602 6772 ext 1631 or e-mail stacey.thursfield@northstaffordshire.nhs.uk

About NHS North Staffordshire

NHS North Staffordshire is responsible for leading the NHS in North Staffordshire with responsibility for health and health services for the 210,000 people living in Newcastle and the Staffordshire Moorlands. The organisation, with an annual budget of £330m, is responsible for all GP practices, NHS dentists, community pharmacists and optometrists in the area. Through its provider arm, North Staffordshire Community Healthcare, a range of community hospitals and health centres, community nursing and therapy services, district nursing, health visiting, school nursing, speech & language therapy, physiotherapy and intermediate care are also provided. For further details see www.northstaffordshire.nhs.uk

Fit for the Future

Fit for the Future is an ambitious NHS programme to improve the health of people across North Staffordshire over the next four years. Patients, the public and partner organisations NHS North Staffordshire, NHS Stoke-on-Trent and the University Hospital of North Staffordshire NHS Trust, are working together to design new services and facilities around what patients need. This means providing more health services like outpatient appointments and follow-up care in local communities, as well as improved specialist hospital services and treatment. For further details see www.fitforthefuture.northstaffs.nhs.uk

For more information contact:

Andrea Harper 

Media and Communications Manager

Tel: 0845 602 6772 ext 1596