The Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre in Hull was officially opened on 6 July, during the week the NHS celebrated its 70th birthday.
The innovative new facility, the first of its type in the UK, was opened by Jean Bishop, Hull’s Bee Lady, in front of 100 guests, and is set to transform care for older people by providing out-of-hospital care, reducing unnecessary hospital admissions, and enabling residents to keep fit, healthy and living independently in their own homes.
It enhances the healing environment. It’s relaxed, calm and dementia friendly. It’s about working together to agree and deliver the best care for the patient
In a new and unique approach to health and care, the ground-breaking services and new clinically-led team will primarily treat 12,000 frail older people in Hull with long-term conditions who have been assessed by their GP as being at risk of hospital admission.
Dr Dan Harman, consultant geriatrician at City Health Care Partnership CIC, which runs the services in the centre, said: “It’s a totally-different way of caring for patients.
“A member of our team visits the patient in their own home to undertake an assessment and to identify issues that the patient wishes to discuss with the team when they attend the centre. These issues often range from concerns about their health, social interaction, or anything they are struggling with.
“Not only does this help the patient and carer understand what to expect at the centre, but it also helps us identify which members of the team they need to see.”
The centre has a comprehensive specialist team including older people’s consultants/geriatricians, advance nurse practitioners, GPs, pharmacists, therapists, social workers and the representatives from the voluntary sector.
There are diagnostics at the centre enabling the team to undertake blood tests, X-rays and, in the future, CT scans.
Harman said: “Straight away you can tell it’s different as you wouldn’t see all those people in a hospital outpatient clinic at once. It brings everyone together in one place.“A hospital admission is often a flashpoint in people’s lives, often when they have a crisis, and it can be difficult to identify their needs at that time.
“The care at the centre feels different as it is about prevention and working in a pro-active way.
“At the end of their visit to the centre, the patient is given a copy of their care plan to take home with them, knowing they’ve been listened to and having a plan and support in place which will be implemented and monitored.”
On the design of the building, he added: “We wanted the centre to be welcoming and warm and have had great feedback so far.
“It enhances the healing environment. It’s relaxed, calm and dementia friendly. It’s about working together to agree and deliver the best care for the patient.”
In the longer term, the aim is to reduce unplanned admissions by up to 20%. This has been forecasted to save the NHS up to £5.8m, which the CCG says it could then reinvest in new services.
Humberside Fire and Rescue also has an operational fire station on the site and provide a falls response team as well as responding to other fire and rescue incidents.
The centre is the 13th building to be developed under the Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) public private partnership scheme in the city, overseen by the CCG’s development partners Citycare.
While creating flexible estate solutions, it is about giving the NHS the best quality and designing a building which can be flexible around services for decades to come
Alan Johnson, Citycare’s independent chairman, said: “It is fantastic to celebrate the remarkable partnership between the NHS, local authority, fire and rescue service, and all of the other providers at the grand opening of the Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre.
“While creating flexible estate solutions, it is about giving the NHS the best quality and designing a building which can be flexible around services for decades to come.”
The centre was built by Sewell Construction and designed by Medical Architecture.
