Samantha Jones, Director of the New Care Models Programme at NHS England
Work to improve the health and transform the care of Fylde coast residents has been praised by key figures within the NHS.
Leaders from NHS England and Public Health England recently visited the area to find out more about work underway to introduce ‘new care models’ to the Fylde coast.
These ‘new care models’ refer to the way in which healthcare services are arranged, provided and accessed, regardless of whether a patient has multiple complaints, a single long-term condition or just the occasional episode of ill health.
The plans aim to tackle the health challenges which the Fylde coast faces over the coming years, such as a growing number of elderly residents and more people living with long-term conditions.
The vision is to provide services which support people to manage their conditions better in the community and thus reduce the risk of a hospital admission when things worsen.
This has already started to happen with the launch of the Extensive Care Service across the Fylde coast and it was this service which was the subject of a visit from Samantha Jones, Director of the New Care Models Programme at NHS England.
Andrew Weatherburn with Samantha Jones and Fylde coast NHS staff
Extensive Care sees all of the doctors, nurses and support staff working together under one roof in a harmonised team to meet the patient’s needs. Previously, these professionals operated individually meaning that care wasn’t as well coordinated as it could have been.
Samantha saw the service ‘in action’ – observing front-line staff in their roles and the close teamwork between different professionals. She also met patients and saw how the team initially assess individuals’ ability to understand and manage their health in order to plan the individually tailored support that they will require.
Samantha said: “I had a really inspiring day on the Fylde coast and it was a privilege to meet people who are doing some truly excellent work.
“It was great to see the new care model in action and what I loved is that it is led by clinicians, working closely with the local community and it is already beginning to make a big difference – improving the quality of care, preventing ill-health and saving money.”
The Fylde coast is one of a select few areas across the country known as a ‘vanguard’ – a status awarded as recognition of the hard work underway to introduce these new models such as Extensive Care.
The ‘vanguards’ is a national programme, aimed at speeding up the development of such models and spreading the learning gathered from these to benefit the wider NHS across the country.
Samantha added: “This is a credit to the doctors, nurses and support workers and Fylde Coast partners to date.
“I’m very excited about the potential and I’m already looking forward to hearing even more about the progress as the vanguard continues on its journey.”
Dr Andrew Weatherburn, Clinical Lead for the Extensive Care Service
Dr Andrew Weatherburn, clinical lead for the Extensive Care Service, added: “It was great to be able to show Sam the fruits of all the hard work that has gone before in developing and introducing this new service.
“We know from our analysis, but most importantly from what patients tell us, that we are really improving people’s health and overall wellbeing during their time with the service.”
Extensive Care is just one element of plans to transform the future of local services on the Fylde coast.
In addition to this, each neighbourhood on the Fylde coast will benefit from a dedicated local team of professionals who will work together to provide support for people who have a long-term condition or other needs which require an enhanced level of care.
These teams will work with groups of GPs alongside community nurses, therapists, wellbeing workers and other healthcare professionals in 10 areas across the Fylde coast. The introduction of these teams started in October 2016.
The Extensive Care Service and these Neighbourhood Care Teams working alongside local GPs, will mean that those people who often require the most support will benefit from seamless care which is specifically tailored to their individual needs.
For more information about the vision for the future of healthcare on the Fylde coast please visit: www.yourcareourpriority.nhs.uk.
Notes to editors:
- Photo: Click to download. Caption: Samantha Jones, Director of the New Care Models Programme at NHS England, observes the Extensive Care Service team in action.
- More information about the Extensive Care Service is available via this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD8JqxhSIyI
- The Fylde Coast health economy when referred to as a vanguard site includes the following organisations: NHS Blackpool Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG); NHS Fylde and Wyre CCG; Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire Care NHS Foundation Trust; Lancashire County Council; and Blackpool Council.
- The vanguards programme is one of the first steps towards delivering the NHS Five Year Forward View.
- Each vanguard site is taking a lead on the development of new care models which will act as the blueprints for the NHS moving forward and the inspiration to the rest of the health and care system.
For further information about this press release please call the communications team on 01253 956594.