Sirona care & health, which provides residential and Extra Care in Bath and North East Somerset, has scooped a national award for their work caring for vulnerable people.
The approach uses ‘multi-disciplinary teams’ of different professionals including GPs, community matrons, physiotherapists, social workers and district nurses to put individuals at the centre of care.
Sirona along with the South Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group won the Primary Care Innovation Award at the Healthcare Transformation Awards for their innovative approach to health and care for people who are at the highest risk of hospitalisation.
Jenny Theed, Sirona’s Director of Operations and Nursing, said: “We were absolutely thrilled to receive this award; particularly as we were one of six shortlisted which demonstrates the innovation being implemented nationwide.
“The development of multi-disciplinary teams was a key part of the development work we did in preparing our proposals for providing services in South Gloucestershire in 2014.
“This model was quickly adopted for implementation within Sirona services in Bath and North East Somerset around the same time.
“We could not have achieved what we have done without the support and commitment of the GPs, the CCG and local authority as well as our fantastic teams.
“Our recent CQC report rated the care we give as Outstanding and highlighted our multi-disciplinary working as one of the many examples to support this.”
Sirona runs residential homes and provides Extra Care in Bath, Keynsham and Midsomer Norton and also offers Community Equipment and Telecare Services to help people stay as independent as possible at home.
Dr Jon Evans, South Gloucestershire CCG Lead for Long-Term Conditions and End-Of-Life Care, said: “We are delighted that we have won this national award and have been recognised at the very highest level of healthcare in the UK.
“The multi-disciplinary team approach has been developed over many years, with contribution from a number of talented professionals across South Gloucestershire.
“We now have a system of expertise which can help the most vulnerable people in our community stay healthy and avoid hospitalisation wherever possible.
“Some of the people we treat using this system have a variety of complex needs and we believe this approach is an effective way to use our resources and work together across professions and practices to provide the very best tailored treatment and outcomes for our individual patients.”
Dr Ann Sephton, South Gloucestershire CCG Deputy Clinical Chair, said: “We know that our patients can stay in better health and have a better quality of life if they can be treated in the community and do not need to be admitted to hospital.
“The multi-disciplinary team meetings present a truly holistic approach to health care which provide the greatest chance of achieving this goal.
“Every consideration is made for the different aspects of health and the individual needs of the patient to ensure they have adequate support.
“Everybody in the meeting has a different area of responsibility and expertise and we all come together as a team to provide the right support for the patient.”