Our third Clinical Cabinet event, held at the end of June, was a big success. With a great turnout from colleagues across primary and acute care, our workshops focused on how we can avoid acute admissions through improvements in our collaborative approach.
We caught up on actions from the last Clinical Cabinet, which focused on moving patients’ care closer to their own homes. Amongst others, some key points included moving towards streamlined IT systems and we were pleased to discuss progress made and future progress with EMIS Viewer and FHIR as well as progress made with outside clinics, including Diabetes virtual clinics – for which there are some different models are under trial. Health coaches now have access to a single point to find and share resources, and on training and education I was pleased to be able to say that joint training between surgeries is becoming more common and Yeovil Hospital is very supportive in terms of opening up their training for practices.
We were joined by speakers from across the sector, including Dr Kathryn Patrick, GP Partner at Ryalls Park Medical Centre, Katy Richards, Clinical Development Officer at South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust (SWAST), Tom Barber, Community Partnership Coordinator at SPARK Somerset, Dr Lucy Pearce, Associate Specialist (Orthogeriatrics and Acute Frailty) at Yeovil Hospital, Kerry White, Deputy Director Operations and Performance at Yeovil Hospital and Dr Jo Cummings, GP Extensivist in Symphony’s Complex Care Team.
During the workshop sessions, some clear ideas came through. On Treatment Escalation Plans (TEPs), communication is a key consideration – a single access point for all care providers, effective training, and inclusion of health coaches and the complex care team. In terms of practicality in rolling out TEPs, IT systems including EMIS Viewer are central, as is awareness and training for all care providers.
The second workshop session focused on how we can work together to support and improve discharges. Some clear cut ideas came from this discussion, including the need for a shift in culture towards collaboration, clear referral pathways and intelligent use of existing records, as well as early involvement from allied health professionals to support timely discharge. Health coaches can also play an essential role in supporting here, as can TEPs / care plans.
As always, the workshop sessions were very productive and I look forward to working with you all to put these ideas into action.
My thanks to all attendees for your excellent input. Through this collaborative approach, we have some strong points to put into action over the coming months. I hope to see you all again at the next Clinical Cabinet, set for September.