Concerns raised about care for frail housebound people in Brighton and Hove

Health chiefs have raised concerns about the care provided for frail and housebound patients in Brighton and Hove.

The level of engagement by family doctors – or GPs (general practitioners) – has been variable, according to an official report.

Anne Foster, head of commissioning at the Brighton and Hove Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), also flagged up staffing problems in a report to the CCG board.

It followed an evaluation of the first year of the current model of caring for frail and housebound patients.

The new model involving multidisciplinary teams started working together in January last year. The teams include nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and pharmacists.

Her report said: “Integrated Primary Care Teams (IPCTs) were developed in Brighton and Hove to provide proactive care and support to the frail housebound population with long-term conditions.

“One of the key principles of this service model is that care is proactive, preventative (and) intended to keep people as well as possible in the community.

“One of the themes from the evaluation is that lack of staffing resources has hindered the full delivery of a proactive care model.

“The CCG has subsequently invested additional resources to maximise the opportunity to deliver the benefits of the IPCT model of care.”

She told the CCG board meeting this afternoon (Tuesday 24 September): “What we found after year one was that the major thing was variability.”

She said that the teams care for 6,000 patients a year on average at a cost of £7 million and added: “There is constant staff turnover. Brighton is an expensive place to live.

“You can have the best model but if you can’t keep and retain the staff then that’s a problem.”

Board member and local GP Dr Naseer Khan: “We have an ageing population. We have to accept that people want care closer to home.

“We have to look at how we look after frail patients in the community. We’re trying to achieve better care in the right place.

“General practice needs to change as it goes along. It’s about what the community can do and it’s about what we as clinicians can do.

“How do we break down barriers and how do we work together?”

A development plan has been produced to improve the service and to try to reduce the variations in performance.

At the CCG board meeting at the Brighthelm Centre, in North Road, Brighton, the board noted the report.

The board also agreed to put its integrated dermatology service out to competitive tender.