Emergency home care teams help people stay out of hospital during pandemic

Two care providers from Hampshire are reinstating an emergency service to help tackle the coronavirus outbreak.

Bluebird Care Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey and Bluebird Care North Hampshire are helping the NHS and GP surgeries with their Joint Emergency Team (JET) to ease congestion and maximise bed capacity at Andover’s War Memorial Hospital and Winchester’s Royal Hampshire County Hospital.

It works by providing rapid response to elderly and vulnerable patients who would usually be admitted to hospital if they became ill.

Acute medical conditions such as falls, flu-like symptoms and UTI’ can be treated at home, rather than an unnecessary trip to the hospital.

The JET service will see trained care workers step in to deliver the same high-quality care in the community, reducing hospital admissions and freeing up vital beds and NHS staff.

An additional benefit is that many patients treated at home may experience a faster recovery and return to independent living more quickly.

By ‘working together can beat this and provide excellent care to all patients’

Phil Miles, managing director of Bluebird Care North Hampshire said: “Our whole team are immensely proud to provide vital support to the NHS at such a critical time.

"The Bluebird Care JET service was invaluable to our local community before and we know it will play a vital role in the fight against COVID-19.”

JET successfully ran a similar service during the winter months to take pressure off the local hospitals and with their trained staff on hand can provide essential support to local hospitals, GPs and community nurses across the Mid Hampshire region during the coronavirus outbreak.

Norman Murphy, managing director of Bluebird Care Winchester, Eastleigh and Romsey said: “Our whole team are immensely proud to provide vital support to the NHS at such a critical time.

“The Bluebird Care JET Service was invaluable to our local community before and we know it will play a vital role in the fight against Covid-19.”

The service is available across 33 GP practices in Hampshire where Bluebird Care Winchester Eastleigh and Romsey are covering 18 practices across Winchester and Eastleigh area, three in the Alresford and Medstead area and seven in the Andover area.

Bluebird Care North Hampshire are covering 15 GP practices including Chineham, Tadley and Bentley Village to help with patients in these areas.

Philip Heiden, director at Mid Hampshire Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to be working with Bluebird Care again.

“Companies like Bluebird really are the frontline help our NHS so badly needs. Health and social care working together really can beat this and provide excellent care to all patients”.

click here for more details or to contact Bluebird Care North Hampshire & West Berkshire