AN OVERHAUL of healthcare provided to patients in Worcestershire in the community and in their own homes is moving closer to completion.

The Community Service Development Programme is setting out plans to redesign care provided to patients in the county in the face of falling budgets and a predicted continued increase in the elderly population.

The plan is being developed by Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust, and will involve community care being centralised at a series of core clinics around the county.

Speaking at a meeting of Worcestershire County Council’s Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Wednesday, October 8, the trust’s director of operations Stephen Collman said the plan would involve each patient being individually assessed on whether it would be more appropriate to treat them at home or in a clinic.

He said the trust currently treats less than three per cent of patients in their own homes, but it was hoped this would be increased to 18 per cent within the first year of the project, but some patients currently being treated at home may be better off going to a clinic, where they would be able to attend a number of appointments in the same visit.

“This is about helping people take more responsibility for their own healthcare,” he said.

“We have to do as much if not more activity with less money and this is one way we are going to do that.

“We know that demand is increasing year on year and the money is not keeping up with that

“We will put mobile clinics as close to people as we can. This is a way of future-proofing our care.”

Each patient being treated in the community will be allocated a specific care coordinator who is responsible for overseeing their treatment, rather than seeing a different doctor or nurse at each appointment.

The trust’s director of strategy and business development Sue Harris said one of the most important elements of the plan, which was currently being looked at, was ensuring transport arrangements were in place to ensure patients were able to get to clinics.

“What we really pulled out from the consultations is there can’t be a one size fits all approach,” she said.

“We really want this to be patient centred.”

It is hoped the plan will be finalised by the trust’s board later this month. It is planned to be rolled out first in the Redditch and Bromsgrove area before being expanded across the rest of the county later.