Rochdale borough plan for better care approved

Health and social care bosses have joined forces to deliver better care in the Rochdale borough.

£18 million has been identified from April this year, to change how health and social care services in the Rochdale borough work to meet future demands.

NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Clinical Commissioning Group (HMR CCG) and Rochdale Borough Council have pooled the money into what is known as the ‘better care fund’. A plan for how this should be spent to benefit local people by making services less fragmented and more joined up has been given the green light by NHS England.

The fund will allow services to become more focussed on:

• Creating joined up, seamless and personalised care that is more effective for people 
• Preventing ill health, promotion of health and wellbeing, keeping people well and independent 
• Avoiding trips and admissions to hospital by providing more support and care outside of hospital in the community 

Dr Chris Duffy, local GP and Chair of NHS HMR CCG, added: “The better care fund will allow us to meet the challenges we face in the borough in coming years. More people are living longer, often with complex health and social care needs; we need to adapt systems to meet these needs. One of our aims is to better coordinate people's care; this will avoid crisis situations which can lead to stays in hospital or admissions to care homes. We’re also planning to have a greater focus on preventing ill health and keeping people well and independent for longer.”

Sheila Downey, Director of Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council: “It’s good news that there is genuine commitment from partners in the Rochdale borough to deliver high quality and responsive services that will be geared around the needs of people, not organisations. By working in a more co-ordinated way and pooling our budgets we can ensure that every penny is spent to best effect providing the right services at the right time. The better care fund is an exciting opportunity for us to make a real positive difference.”

The proposed schemes within the Rochdale borough’s plan are still being developed, but some of the changes people can expect to see as part of joining up health and social care services in the future will include:

• Partnership working with other health and social care organisations to deliver new models of care
• Services that aim to reduce hospital admissions, supporting people to regain their independence as quickly as possible
• Improved support for carers who are looking after loved ones
• Services that are closer to home to meet the needs of patients with a range of health and social care needs
• Delivering a single point of access for patients approaching the end of life
• Emphasis on social care social care support

Now that the plan has been approved, organisations will focus on working together to bring about the improvements it aims to achieve.