Good health and well being is in reach

The ‘In-Reach Service’ team

Local nurses are supporting several of Rochdale’s residential care homes to help people to stay well and improve their quality of life.

The ‘In-Reach Service’ involves nurses, from Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, working closely with care home staff to identify people most at risk of developing a preventable health condition. This can include pressure ulcers, chest infections, skin conditions, dehydration, nutritional deficiencies and broken bones due to having an avoidable fall.

Identifying symptoms early and implementing an individual care plan helps to safeguard the residents’ overall health and reduces the risk of them having to be admitted to hospital. It also reduces the need to call out a GP urgently.

As part of the initiative, nurses are also sharing their knowledge and skills with staff at the twelve care homes involved in the project. This will help to embed preventative care right at the heart of each home.

Commenting on the initiative, Lead Nurse Janice Maslen said: “Our community nurses are successfully supporting residential homes across Rochdale to reduce the number of preventative illnesses and injuries.

“We know that the residents are much happier in their own surroundings and this scheme is helping them avoid being admitted to hospital unnecessarily.

“We’ve also had positive feedback from care home staff, who say they feel more supported. They have also reported a reduction in the number of GP call outs, as the majority of problems are being identified early and effectively managed by the District Nurses.”

The scheme is part of Pennine Care’s ongoing commitment to provide more services in the community and help people avoid being taken into hospital unnecessarily.