This unique partnership, between the NHS and the local authority started on 1 April 2016.
The aim of this new integrated service is to ensure adult health and social care services are fit for purpose, innovative and continue to meet the needs of a growing local population.
The Redbridge HASS has a greater focus on early intervention and prevention and delivers high quality integrated care.
It has an improved single point of access for people over the age of 18 with community health or adult social care needs and it delivers an integrated service at a local level to the following people:
• vulnerable older people
• adults with a learning disability and/or on the autistic spectrum
• adults with a physical and/or sensory disability
• adults with a mental health issue We have made it easier to access our services and reduce the number of calls and number of assessments a person has to undergo.
We are also improving the quality of information and advice provided to help people remain as independent as possible.
The Redbridge HASS has involved the development of four multi-disciplinary community health teams set up across the Borough based on GP Clusters. Each cluster team is made up of social workers, occupational therapists, nurses as well as individual specialist teams e.g. physiotherapy, speech and language, rehabilitation etc. We have also integrated the older adults mental health team and community learning disability team into the Redbridge HASS.
We found that 51% of people known to the older adult mental health team were also known to the community health services and so an integrated approach would work well. There is a new online and telephone referral process where a team of specialist Wellbeing Officers and First Contact Officers provide a coordinated approach to offering people advice, information and a wellbeing assessment.
NELFT and LBR put in place a Section 75 agreement, which resulted in the redesign of service provision by creating a new Adult Care, Health and Wellbeing Hub bringing together all existing functions of commissioning, Public Health, safeguarding, strategy and development and systems and resources into one support unit.
The role of the HUB is to manage the day to day running of the adult social services, health and wellbeing cluster, be directed by the integration work of the HASS and be accountable for the delivery of the HASS.
To set up the Redbridge HASS, we:
• Created clearer business processes and shared use of resources including budgets
• Co-produced with stakeholders including experts by experience and representatives of people who use, provide and commission services
• Redesigned user pathways
• Realigned services in a way that meets service user needs as demand increases and becomes more complex
• Delivered efficiency savings to support the Council’s overall savings target
• Created a single management process for health and social care staff working within the HASS.
• Reviewed the use of estate across the NHS and local authority.