Rutland ranked best in England for health and social care integration
Rutland has been listed number one in the country when it comes to providing integrated health and social care services for residents, according to the latest national average weighted rankings released by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
Collaboration between health and social care providers in each of England’s 152 local authority areas is closely monitored by the DHSC to make sure the different types of care that people need are being delivered effectively and efficiently.
Delivering integrated care is considered essential in order to improve experiences and outcomes for people who use health and social care services, with Rutland currently ranked best in the country for its performance.
Coun Alan Walters, the Cabinet Member responsible for Adult Social Care and Health at Rutland County Council, said: “In today’s health and social care setup, aspects of your care can rely on a number of different professionals working within the NHS, the Council or another agency.
"As a result, there’s potential for health and social care services to become fragmented and difficult to use if the various different care providers don’t communicate or work well together.
"We’ve worked extremely hard to make sure this isn’t the case here in Rutland.
"In fact, by focussing squarely on what residents need and maintaining a close, positive working relationship between the Council’s social care teams and health professionals in the NHS, we’ve been successful in reducing confusion, duplication and delays for service users in Rutland and are pleased that the impact of this work is reflected in the latest national standings.”
The DHSC’s Performance Dashboard for Health and Social Care looks at every local authority in England and measures how well they perform in a number of key areas where health and social care work closest together.
This includes emergency admissions to hospital, length of stay and whether people are delayed when ready to be discharged home.
Each local authority is assessed on their performance in six individual areas then given an overall ranking.
Rutland is currently first out of 152 local authorities in the National Average Weighted Ranks.
Rachel Bilsborough, Director of Community Health Services for Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, said: “We have a very close and constructive relationship with Rutland Social Care.
"This includes having a joint team of social care and health professionals, who work together to ensure patients leaving hospital have the support they need when they go home.
"This team share the same office and report to the same manager, which helps ensure patients get back home to a safe environment in the shortest possible time.
"We look forward to building on our collective success over the years to come, and are delighted that our work has resulted in better outcomes for people who use our services.”
Local area performance metrics from the DHSC Performance Dashboard for Health and Social Care can be viewed online at: www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-area-performance-metrics-and-ambitions.
