Plans being put in place by The Department of Health and Department for Communities and Local Government aim to improve out of hospital care for the elderly and vulnerable to reduce emergency admissions.
Following a review of the first set of local plans for the Better Care Fund, it is hoped that a renewed agreement will bring health and care service providers closer together to make joint decisions, ensuring more people receive joinedup, personalised care.
The fund, with a shared budget of at least £3.8 billion, aims to bring more dignity and independence for the frail and elderly by providing the care they need at, or closer, to home; seven-day health and care services – to ensure that people can access the care they need when they need it; a named professional – who can join up services around individuals, and prevent them from falling through the gaps; better data sharing – so that people do not need to endlessly repeat their story to every professional who cares for them; and joint assessments – so that services can work together to assess and meet people’s needs all in one go.
As well as providing this kind of service to patients, Health and Wellbeing Boards – made up of councils and local health services – will be able to set their own ‘performance pot’ with a guideline reduction in unplanned admissions of at least 3.5%. This is said to equate to at least 185,500 fewer admissions a year.
Following a review of 151 local area ‘Better Care’ plans, NHS England and the Local Government Association (LGA) found that more than 80% of local area plans are on course to transform ‘out of hospital’ services.
More than 100 Clinical Commissioning Group areas have expressed an interest in ‘co-commissioning’ primary care services. This will give GPs greater involvement in not only how hospital services are shaped and how primary care services are set up to prevent people from experiencing unnecessary hospital visits.
Commenting on the plans, Eric Pickles, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, said: “The Better Care Fund is about bringing health and social care together to provide better, more dignified care and independence for the elderly and vulnerable, not leaving them with no choice but to turn up at A&E or be stuck unnecessarily in hospital for weeks when they could be helped at home. The advantage of the system is local flexibility to get the mix of services right for the user. The revised plans will help cement this new partnership at a local level, with services built around the user, and provide a good deal for the taxpayer too.”
Norman Lamb, Care and Support Minister, said: “Too often care is uncoordinated, resulting in people needlessly going back to A&E again and again. We want to make the system fairer and provide better care for patients, no matter where they are being treated. We already have 14 pioneer areas proving that an integrated approach can save money, reduce demand on services and improve patient care.”
