PLANNING permission for a brand new purpose-built 24 bed community Intermediate Care Unit situated in the grounds at North Manchester General Hospital, which will help ease bed blocking and support elderly patients being discharged from hospital, has now been approved by the city council.
The care unit is a joint partnership between The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust which runs the hospital, its NHS commissioner North Manchester Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), and Manchester City Council. The cost of the new unit is expected to be around £5 million and the build will take 12 months.
The new unit will become part of the Trust’s successful Community Assessment and Support Service (CASS), a new integrated service delivery model that aims to avoid admissions, reduce length of stay and improve patient and carer experiences by providing better access to the right intervention, at the right time, delivered by the right health or social care worker.
Since November 2014 the Pennine Acute Trust has been providing nine temporary intermediate care beds at North Manchester General Hospital on ward J5 in the main hospital building. These are in addition to 15 beds currently provided in the local community at Henesy House, a residential home in Collyhurst, Manchester. This new Intermediate Care Unit will replace all of these beds.
The majority of patients who access intermediate care services are over 75 years of age and the new unit will provide an enhanced service for community patients who require a period of rehabilitation. The new unit will also support patients who do not require, or no longer need, specialist acute hospital care and treatment, but who do still need support within a community setting.
Intermediate care is a service that is designed to rehabilitate people with input from a team of dedicated professionals. That team could include any combination of nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, GPs, assistant practitioners, health care assistants, pharmacists, speech and language services, podiatrists and social care workers.
Paul Jehu, 54, from Crumpsall in Manchester (pictured), a former patient who was discharged from ward J5 intermediate care at North Manchester General Hospital on 14 December said: “I think the new Intermediate Care Unit will be fantastic, I think it is a great idea; it’s just what this hospital needs and given the fact that it’s a very old hospital, this will bring it into the 21st century. It will be state of the art; it will have everything it needs. Hopefully the public will also get behind it; I for one will be doing so.”
Professor Matt Makin, Medical Director at The Pennine Acute Trust, said:
“The future of North Manchester General Hospital (NMGH) is secure. It has a vitally important role to play in providing a range of local hospital services to a population with complex health needs. We are working with our commissioners and our healthcare partners across Greater Manchester on developing North Manchester as a local hospital site that provides “Best in Class” services for patients with complex multi-morbid conditions. North Manchester General will be supported through the improvement work that is happening across Pennine Acute in partnership with Salford Royal and will benefit from new site leadership arrangements and investment such as this to benefit patients and their families.
“This new unit will offer patients support in the transition period between illness and recovery where they will have access to a superb team of health and social care professionals. Our unit will be low-rise in design and have a welcoming homely feel for patients with a sunken communal garden and a mock apartment to help patients adjust to home life again. This is an excellent example of joint working, vision and investment across local health and social care organisations.”
