Gloucestershire hospital stays for elderly reduced in new scheme

Gloucestershire's new care initiative involves staff helping reduce care home stays

A new initiative is being used to speed up allowing care home residents to go home.

Charity Lilian Faithfull Care is working with Gloucestershire Care Providers Association (GCPA).

GCPA receives funding from the Better Care Fund to pay for two nurses who work at Gloucestershire Royal and Cheltenham General hospitals.

Known as trusted assessors, they liaise with medical teams to decide whether someone is ready to return home.

The funding comes from Gloucestershire County Council as part of the Integrated Care System in the county.

The teams at Lilian Faithfull Care work closely with NHS rapid response services and GP surgeries to keep residents out of hospital.

However, when a hospital visit is unavoidable, the new trusted assessors can quickly be by a resident's bedside in hospital.

Currently the GCPA has two assessors - Kate Counter, a registered nurse for more than 35 years, and Netty Wyndham-Wade, who has more than 35 years' experience in adult social care.

The trusted assessors may visit the resident several times a week during a hospital stay.

The decision to discharge a patient is then made based on their condition and the facilities at the care home.

Suzanne Booker, director of care at Lilian Faithfull Care, said the assessors have quickly become a "valuable asset to the charity".

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