Following a successful pilot in Newark practices, to test the use of Advanced Nurse Practitioners, with prescribing qualifications, to visit patients at home or in care homes with urgent care needs that could not attend their local surgery, local commissioners agreed to expand the service across Mid Nottinghamshire. The contract was awarded to PICS to deliver services from April 1st 2019.
PICS was instrumental in working closely with General Practices in Newark to define, develop and deliver a service that would reduce workload, be more responsive to patient needs and to help patients avoid unnecessary emergency admissions to hospitals. In cases where patients do need admission this can be arranged more quickly reducing the likelihood of expensive overnight hospital admissions, as patients can be referred to hospital more quickly.
PICS is now working with commissioners and practices and is actively recruiting staff to provide a full service across Mid Nottinghamshire practices that will aim to deliver 100 visits per day.
The Acute Home Visiting Service practitioners are independent prescribers working autonomously to help reduce workload on GPs and provide quicker more responsive patients that are housebound and needing urgent care.
Dr Cusack from one of the Newark GP practices comments:
“The Acute Home Visiting service has been invaluable to both patients and GPs. It has allowed earlier access to a clinician for patients who are at risk of hospital admission and has freed up more time for GPs to concentrate on managing our chronic disease patients more effectively. The response from patients and colleagues has been overwhelmingly positive. The service has been very responsive and the process of referring is very efficient. Overall this has been an excellent innovation for our area which has benefitted both patients and clinicians”.
For further information contact Gerald Ellis