In December 2023 Kernow Health secured funding for a pilot scheme to implement a Right Care Car which will complement existing integrated urgent care services in Cornwall and provide extra resilience coinciding with the start of the winter period.
The focus of the pilot service is to support admission reduction and avoidance by assisting the Southwest Ambulance Service Trust (SWAST), the Urgent Community Response team, and the Acute Care Home Team and Macmillan Nursing Team. As well as providing support to these teams, it will complement additional initiatives put in place as part of Kernow Health’s winter plan including our care coordination hub and extended Integrated Transfer of Care Hubs (IToCHs).
The crew consists of a multi-disciplinary clinical team and is deployed on each call out with a driver and the duty clinician. The car will provide a similar service to that of the urgent care car but will operate during the day between 9am – 9pm.
Although the service which is in its infancy having launched in December and running until March 2024, and being mobilised over a short timeframe, is seeing numbers of patients increasing daily. So far, the pilot has seen some excellent patient outcomes. The reasons for call out can be wide and varied, this has included seeing a patient with suspected sepsis, and attendance to support a falls patient who was also receiving palliative care.
The aim is to develop a collaborative service with a multi-disciplinary team, which offers a mobile and face to face element, providing triage, and consultation to complete the patient journey.
It is anticipated that the pilot will provide an evidence base relating to the provision of additional face to face clinical consultations, to contribute to admission reduction and avoidance in Cornwall.
The Right Care Car is pictured with driver, Paul Coppinger and Advanced Paramedic Carlton Real.
https://kernowhealthcic.org.uk/2024/01/30/new-right-care-car-for-kernow-health/