Dozens of people attended the launch of Neighbourhood Care, which is helping care teams support people’s health in the community.

Residents of Malpas descended on Jubilee Hall to meet their community care team and find out more about key third sector partners including Brightlife, Healthbox and Community Compass.

Among the visitors was Eddisbury MP Antoinette Sandbach, who spent time talking to exhibitors and was on hand to unveil a new Malpas community mini-bus.

Malpas launch for Neighbourhood Care project

Laurel Bank Surgery GP partner Dr Louise Davies, who opened the event, described Neighbourhood Care as “an exciting glimpse into the future”.

She said: “In Malpas, due to our geography, we have to be resilient and adaptable. Rather than sit back waiting to be saved, we face pressures head-on and find solutions ourselves.

“It is this community resolve that forms the heart of Neighbourhood Care – working to empower patients and their carers to take ownership of their health and wellbeing. It is also about building a myriad of resources with our colleagues in the third sector to enable seamless, high-quality care for our community.”

Funding from NHS England has now created an opportunity to support Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust’s (CWP) Broxton Community Care team and the Malpas neighbourhood to provide care to more people proactively in the community to help prevent hospital and care home admissions.

Community care teams consist of a range of professionals including a team manager, care co-ordinator, community matron, community nurses, therapists, health care assistants and social workers.

People living in Neighbourhood Care areas are now able to access a wider range of services closer to home to support wellness, including:

  • Mental health services
  • Physiotherapy First
  • Step up beds in local care homes to enable people to be treated closer to home, prevent unnecessary hospital admissions and reduce the risk of readmission
  • Further integration with social care
  • Better access to community transport
  • More community activities to promote positive health and wellbeing.

Dr Davies added: “I would like to thank NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group and NHS England for selecting our community to pilot this innovative project – which I feel sure will provide the seed from which further collaborative work for those involved in caring for our communities will flourish and evolve.”

Director of nursing, therapies and patient participation for CWP Avril Devaney MBE said: “The work that CWP staff have done for this pilot has been extraordinary.

“I am extremely proud of the work that the care team have done in helping implement an inclusive joined up care approach to the people of Malpas. This is a fantastic example of collaborative community focused working, and the benefits it can have for everyone involved.”