A number of “urgent” measures to help shift more UK care into homes and communities have been urged in a new report.
The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC) – working with public / private sector consultancy IMPOWER – has issued a report arguing that delivering more care and support in people’s homes is crucial to sustaining the NHS and tackling the interconnected crises within the health and social care system.
The report highlights successful case studies of community-based care from NHS Trusts including Manchester Foundation Trust, East Surrey Hospital, and United Lincolnshire Hospitals Trust, demonstrating substantial improvements in patient outcomes; including a 35 per cent reduction in hospital readmissions, a 42 per cent reduction in bed occupancy, and significant cost savings exceeding £3m.
The Future is Out There: Joining up health and care for the benefit of all calls for the UK government to deliver on the long-standing promise of expanding community-based care.
This shift, the report argues, is essential to relieving the immense pressures currently facing the NHS, caused by a growing elderly population, long-standing backlogs, and workforce fatigue.
It stresses the urgent need for a culture change within the healthcare system and calls on the government to support a political and policy framework that enables more home and community-based care.
One example from the report comes from Manchester Foundation Trust, where its ‘Hospital at Home’ initiative uses virtual wards to support patients with respiratory, frailty, and heart conditions. The programme has reduced hospital readmission rates by 35 per cent and mortality rates by 10 per cent, while generating over £1m in cost savings. Similar success has been seen in other hospitals and care settings across the country.
The report concludes that the new government has a unique opportunity to take bold steps toward a future that rebalances care away from hospitals and into homes. The report calls for a national framework to guide this transformation and calls for local health systems to have the flexibility to implement solutions that are tailored to their communities’ needs.
Jeanette Dickson, chair of the AoMRC, said: “After decades of talking, the time to act is now. By focusing on care closer to home, we can protect our hospitals for those who need them most and improve quality of life for people in their communities. This is the only way to ensure the NHS remains sustainable for the future.”
