Improving access to care in West Somerset
Health Innovation South West has been supporting the Access to Care programme, which brings together health and social care providers and the wider community to improve personal independence and wellbeing in West Somerset.
The Access to Care programme was co-designed between Somerset Integrated Care Board (NHS Somerset) and the West Somerset Neighbourhood Board, with the support of the community of health and social care providers.
Health Innovation South West has partnered with these two organisations and West Somerset PCN to improve access to care in West Somerset by:
- Standardising Urgent Care, Minor Injury Unit (MIU), GP and community responses, ensuring patients have same-day access to proactive care.
- Developing robust system pathways to the correct care and services, no matter the patient’s point of entry into healthcare, whilst supporting think 111 first.
- Strengthening trust and relationships across the West Somerset community to improve development, retention and recruitment of the workforce.
This project is in its early stages and initial findings are expected in autumn 2024. Three projects, and the outcomes we are working towards over the next 12 months, have been defined with West Somerset PCN:
- Exmoor Rural Health Hub: Implement a comprehensive footfall tracking system to gather data to better understand the community’s healthcare needs, and develop targeted community outreach and user-friendly resources to raise awareness about the Health Hub’s services.
- Improving Patient Access: Collect data to identify trends, develop clear interventions and referral pathways, collaborate with local health providers and engage with the community.
- Falls Prevention: Develop a clear pathway and referral system, establish a collaborative systematic approach to prevent duplication across services, implement a secure and centralised system for storing falls assessments, set up a dedicated Falls Clinic, and empower patients with information on available services and what to do in the event of a fall.
