Northumbria NHS Trust to be first in England to provide home care services to community

An NHS Trust based in the North East has revealed plans to help hospitals cope with “freeing up” beds by providing home care services to the community, making it the first in England to do so.

The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust which runs the Northumbria Specialist and Emergency Care Hospital (NSECH) in Cramlington and district hospitals in Wansbeck, North Tyneside and Hexham said the aim is to have its first home-care service up-and-running in the first quarter of 2022 to help deal with the demand for social care in the community and help free up hospital beds.

The trust said it will also work with existing care providers to help deal with the demand for social care and will hire up to 250 staff to deliver care packages in people’s homes.

Sir James Mackey, the Trust's chief executive, said creating more social care capacity would help the NHS and help the “unmet demand in our communities.”

Having an effective social care service is “vital to the entire health system” to help hospitals cope with “freeing up beds” with the “demand” rising from “new patients coming in.

"An opportunity has arisen for us to use our expertise to help support the care sector in Northumberland and North Tyneside."

This initiative comes as a report published last week by the Health and Social Care Select Committee saw MPs call for a broader national health and care recovery plan by April 2022.

In the report, MPs said that 'During our inquiry, we heard many times that workforce shortages were the “key limiting factor” on success in tackling the backlog' and warned that social care should not be overlooked, saying ‘We have heard much about how a robust social care system that can support hospital discharges and free up capacity is essential to clear the backlog’.

Northumbria Healthcare also runs community health services throughout Northumberland and North Tyneside, and it has recently received planning permission for its plans to create the Northumbria Health and Care Academy on the NSECH site in Cramlington.

The trust is aiming to have care home provision in place by the end of the year. The new social care service jobs will be NHS contracts.

Sir James added: “This exciting development supports our community promise our commitment to do even more to support our population as it will create new jobs, support education and training for carers, and open up further employment opportunities, for example, apprenticeships.

“The first posts that are now on offer are your chance to join us on our journey as we become part of a crucial system and provide the high-quality care that the people of Northumberland and North Tyneside deserve.”