Onward Care partnership initiative shortlisted for the 2023 HSJ Partnership Awards
The Trust is delighted to announce that the Onward Care non-clinical service, provided by Sodexo and developed in partnership with Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust, has been shortlisted for Most Effective Contribution to Integrated Health and Care category of this year’s HSJ Partnership Awards. The official awards ceremony will be held 21 March 2024.
The Trust has worked in partnership with Sodexo on this initiative since December 2022. Onward Care is an integrated solution bringing together private sector knowledge, resources, and data expertise to bridge the gap between healthcare and social care provision.
Frail patients are given an initial assessment while still in hospital to understand their overall health, social and psychological goals. The service is then personalised and streamlined to help them to achieve those goals, often focusing on resolving issues related to loneliness and self-confidence, on discharge.
Evidence demonstrates that patients who are supported by Onward Care, following a stay in hospital, are less likely to become so unwell that they need to be re-admitted. People typically lose 15% of their strength for every 10 days they are in hospital so avoiding admissions for people who are already frail has a big impact on their ability to maintain independence, the things that matter most to them and live at home.
The initiative incorporates non-clinical remote monitoring and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to proactively identify early signs of decline in someone who is frail and living at home, either with or without support from domiciliary carers. AI linked to movement sensors, on kettles and fridges identify changes in a patient’s normal behaviour. When changes in these habits are identified, Sodexo’s non-clinical Onward Care team contact the individual to help solve the issue or if necessary, escalate any clinical issues to the Trust. The Onward Care team are also able to help with other issues such as cleaning, shopping, and food parcels.
The service has shown to improve not only patient outcomes, but also to reduce health inequalities and decrease the use of hospital beds for those supported by the service by 77%.
Jenny Ricketts, Deputy Chief Operating Officer for the Trust: “We are delighted that Onward Care has been shortlisted for an award. We’re not aware of any other service or scheme like it. As a Trust we tend to focus on providing acute clinical care for patients when they require admission to our hospitals. We are less focused on the contributing wider determinants of health, which is what made it interesting and exciting to explore this initiative with Sodexo.
We know from our residents that it’s often a challenge to identify and access all the different community services that are available in Buckinghamshire. Onward Care has been the glue that has helped pull these resources together in a simple and supportive way.
From the start Sodexo took a lot of the heavy lifting from us. The feedback from our patients is that they have had a very positive experience of working with the team and feel a lot more confident being at home.”
Adrian McCourt Managing Director Onward Care for Sodexo: “We’re really proud of this service and the achievements over the last 12 months. To be shortlisted for an award shows how this service resonates with requirements nationally.
It’s been great being able to work so closely with the team at Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust to develop the service. Our collaborative approach identifies patients pre-discharge, in a way that minimises demands on ward time and provides integration that connects and empowers patients to access existing local services. We can then use data to predict readmissions and target resources at those who will benefit most.”
Watch a video for further information about the Onward Care non-clinical service, provided by Sodexo.