Admission Prevention Services
The Admission Prevention services support patients to remain at home rather than spend unnecessary time in hospital.
Admission Prevention services are available across Suffolk. The teams work in partnership to deliver community support that helps prevent patients spending unnecessary time in hospital, minimising the risk of deconditioning and the development of hospital-acquired infections.
Admission Prevention works closely with a number of multi-disciplinary services to ensure they offer the best solution for the family carer and the cared for. Our Suffolk Family Carers team are just one part of this larger picture. Other services involved include
- GP surgeries
- Dementia and Intensive
- Support Team
- Frailty
- Community Nurses
- Paramedics
- Physiotherapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Adult Care Services
- Support Workers
- British Red Cross
Ipswich & East Suffolk
The Reactive Emergency Assessment Community Team (REACT) is a partnership with Suffolk Family Carers, Suffolk County Council and British Red Cross.
REACT is made up of Health Care Professionals that work together along with the voluntary services to provide care and support for people at home who find themselves in crisis and hopefully prevent a hospital admission.
Working closely with GP surgeries, Dementia and Intensive Support Team, Frailty Assessment Base, District nurses, Paramedics, Physiotherapists, Occupational therapists, Adult care services and a multitude of other agencies and representatives, means they have a huge pool of referral possibilities.
Cindy Dunn, Suffolk Family Carers representative within REACT, explains, “Once a referral has been made, there will be an initial assessment completed by one of our clinicians to ascertain the support needed to keep the person at home and prevent a hospital admission. A risk assessment will then be carried out and a plan put together which will be implemented following a multi-agency meeting which takes place each morning. It may be that the person needs carers to go in three times a day to prompt medications, complete personal care or occupational therapist to provide equipment such as a hospital bed, physiotherapist to encourage tailored exercise, generic workers to prepare a meal or any other form of support that person may need.
It may be that the cared for is end of life and needs referring to Marie Curie and district nurses for palliative care. There may also be a medical need for blood or urine samples for testing, which will be taken by REACT nurses.
“If there is a family carer involved, there is an automatic referral made to me. I will then make an appointment to visit the family carer and offer the services provided by Suffolk Family Carers as well as signpost on to other services and support agencies, whom the family carer may benefit. Many times, it is the first time a family carer has been asked how they are managing and it can be quite emotional for the family carer”.
0300 123 2425 (Open 24hrs / Core Team: 08.00-20.00)
