Six neighbourhood health 'trailblazer' projects have secured backing through a new £1.5m government-funded partnership aimed at redesigning local health and care services, with several pilots focused directly on supporting frail older people to remain independent and avoid hospital admissions.
The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) unveiled the schemes this week as part of a neighbourhood health investment partnership involving Macmillan Cancer Support, Social Finance and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.
The Department said the six sites will test new neighbourhood models bringing together NHS organisations, councils, community groups and local residents to provide earlier support, reduce health inequalities and help people remain at home for longer.
Three of the selected projects are set to target people living with frailty as a ‘priority cohort’ previously highlighted by the government in its Neighbourhood Health Framework, a key part of its overarching ‘10 year health plan’.
Focus on frailty
York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust will expand an existing neighbourhood-based frailty model which uses proactive identification of older people living with frailty, comprehensive geriatric assessment and multidisciplinary teams, ministers said.
The model is designed to support older people to remain at home and will now be extended into rural and coastal communities including Scarborough and Bridlington, according to the Department.
Meanwhile, North Nottinghamshire Partnership, led by Sherwood Forest Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will develop a scaled neighbourhood model focused on people with severe frailty, cancer and multiple long-term conditions. The partnership said the approach will place particular emphasis on wider determinants of health alongside clinical and care support.
And Bristol NHS Foundation Trust is set to use the funding to develop a ‘1,000 Days Neighbourhood Model’ using population health data and community networks to improve end-of-life care and support more people living with frailty and multiple conditions outside hospital settings.
Prevention focus
A fourth scheme, led jointly by Lewisham Health and Care Partnership and Healthier Greenwich Partnership, will build on existing integrated neighbourhood teams covering long-term conditions, frailty, cancer and end-of-life care.
The South East London Integrated Care System said the programme would test new neighbourhood-based approaches focused on prevention and community-based support.
Health minister Dame Diana Johnson said: “These six trailblazer pilots will help lead the way in showing how locally-led services can work together in the areas of greatest need, and support people to live healthier, more independent lives.”
Macmillan Cancer Support chief executive Gemma Peters said the selected sites would demonstrate how more connected, personalised care could be delivered closer to home, with the charity planning to invest £250m in neighbourhood health initiatives across the UK over the next three to five years.
