Provision of a 24-Hour Care at Home Pilot

Medway Council and NHS Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), working with Medway NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) wish to pilot a 24hr Care at Home service to support patients to return home and settle prior to assessment. It is envisioned that this would likely be nurse-led care, however, consideration will be given to providers who do not provide nursing care but can evidence how their approach will be effective in supporting higher levels of need. Once people no longer need hospital care, it is widely acknowledged that being at home is the best place to continue recovery. Unnecessary delays, especially when discharging older patients home from hospital, leads to worse health outcomes and increases in long-term care needs. The intention of this pilot is to support more complex assessments to take place at home and reduce acute bed days lost for patients who are medically optimised. The 24 Hour Care at Home model will provide intensive care and support over a 72-hour period initially, which can be extended for up to two weeks. This provides the Person, following an acute episode of care in hospital, the opportunity to have a holistic Health and Social Care Assessment in their own home environment and provides an analysis of both physical and emotional improvement out of an acute setting.