TAVISTOCK residents can find out about proposals to change the way care for the elderly is provided at a consultation roadshow on December 13.
Your Future Care is a proposal by NHS Northern, Eastern and Western Devon Clinical Commissioning Group (NHS NEW Devon CCG) to provide care and support at home and in the community for the elderly and frail, preventing unnecessary hospital admissions and supporting a faster return home when hospital is needed.
Health bosses say the plans would reduce the need for community hospital beds in the Eastern locality and a public consultation is underway looking at where the remaining beds should be located.
The plans have caused controversy in Okehampton as they propose to close all 16 of Okehampton Hospital’s in-patient beds. Hospitals in the northern and western Devon localities, and other services provided at community hospitals, are not part of the consultation.
Dr John Womersley, an Ilfracombe GP and chair of the northern locality of the CCG, said: ’There are sound clinical reasons for adopting the model. Every day, up to 600 people are in hospitals (100 of these in community hospitals) who no longer have a medical need to be there.?’We know that a length of stay in hospital of more than 10 days can cause people’s health to deteriorate, particularly in relation to muscle strength. As well as that, lots of people tell us they want joined up care, which supports and promotes independence, as locally as possible.
’What we are proposing is a way of wrapping care around people where they live, by spending money on providing better care for people away from hospitals.’
Health service commissioners are keen to hear what people across the county, including all of West Devon, think about an integrated model of care, where the various providers of services work together to promote the health and wellbeing of residents.
It is hoped as many people as possible will call in to the roadshow events where they can gather information, talk to managers and clinicians and share their views.
Public meetings are ongoing in the Eastern locality as part of the consultation and there are still a few places available. Details of the events – including new ones added for Exeter and Honiton – and how to register to guarantee a place, are available at the CCG’s website www.newdevonccg.nhs.uk