East Kent selected as national neighbourhood health pioneer
We’re proud to share that east Kent has been chosen as one of the national ‘neighbourhood health’ pioneer sites, as announced by NHS England.
Multi-disciplinary Team Co-ordinator Jodie Harnden and Frailty Specialist Dr Joanna Seeley
This recognition highlights the incredible work already underway among health and care partners to deliver joined-up, community-based care that puts people in east Kent at the heart of their health journey.
Neighbourhood-based care is at the forefront of the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan, helping to change the way people are supported in their homes.
Being part of this national programme means we’ll help shape the future of integrated care together to support people to live well at home.
We already have a significant amount of great work to build on but as a pioneer site we will focus on launching a fully integrated neighbourhood team in Folkestone and Hythe, co-designed with residents and partners.
Mairead McCormick, Senior Responsible Officer for the East Kent Health and Care Partnership and Chief Executive at Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust (KCHFT), said: “Right now, many people experience care that doesn’t always work together. You might see your GP, then get referred to hospital, then speak to a social worker or mental health nurse – but they may not talk to each other.
“It’s confusing, frustrating and exhausting – especially if you’re older, have long-term conditions, or need support from more than one service.
“But neighbourhood teams change that. They bring services together locally – GPs, nurses, social workers, mental health professionals, voluntary organisations – all working as one team, with shared information and shared goals.
“We already have some great successes to build on and we’ve very excited as a health and care partnership for the support to accelerate our progress to make a real difference to our communities. We will share the learning generated through this work to benefit all our communities.”
The programme is being supported by NHS Kent and Medway Integrated Care Board. The teams will include GPs led by clinical directors for Folkestone Hythe and Rural primary care network (PCN) Dr Aravinth Balachandran, Total Health Excellence PCN Dr Tuan Nguyen and Marsh PCN Dr Antonio Monachello.
Folkestone and Hythe District Council Leader, Cllr Jim Martin, said: “We’re delighted to be part of the programme that will help build on the strong partnership working already taking place in the district. This is a great opportunity to support local vulnerable residents by integrating health services and local community support to improve health outcomes.”
Carol and Tony Trott, from Caple-le-Ferne, near Folkestone, were struggling to manage multiple health conditions and frequently finding themselves at their local urgent treatment centre. But that’s when Multi-Disciplinary Coordinator Jodie Harnden stepped in.
Jodie said: “Both Carol and Tony were becoming frailer and were at risk of being admitted to hospital if their conditions were not better managed. Knowing how important it is to them to stay at home, we worked across NHS and social care organisations to put help in place to make life easier for them.”
Read more about our successes so far on our Neighbourhood health page and how this approach has already helped Carol and Tony.
