Salford is set to be at the forefront of a national health revolution that will bring home care, mental health and community nursing, hospital and out-of-hospital services together, ushering in a new era of joined-up care.
The NHS announcement that the Salford Together Partnership – an alliance formed by NHS Salford Commissioning Group, Salford City Council, Salford Royal Foundation Trust and Greater Manchester West Foundation Trust – is to become a 'vanguard' will lead to significant health improvements for residents.
From next month, work will begin between the NHS and the selected areas to develop dedicated support packages.
This could mean Salford residents having fewer trips to hospitals as medical specialists and GPs work more closely together. A single-point-of-access to family doctors, community nurses and social and mental health services is also planned.
A spokesperson for Salford Together said: “Being chosen as one of the first vanguard sites in the country is an exciting opportunity for healthcare in Salford.
In line with the recently-published NHS Five Year Forward View, Salford Togetheris taking a radical and innovative approach to developing new models of care that meet the challenges we increasingly face.
Salford Together has a shared vision to improve the care of our population. This extends beyond out-of-hospital care to integrate health, social care, mental health and wellbeing for adults and older people.
In particular, we will look to offer targeted support for individuals with complex needs and chronic health conditions, such as diabetes or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
We believe that by pooling together our expertise in an integrated care organisation, residents will receive more coordinated care; especially as it will be provided by health and social care professionals working within the same organisation.
Such an organisation would also give partners the opportunity to create more personalised services for residents and work together more efficiently to keep patients out of hospital and receiving care closer to home.”
The granting of vanguard status will allow Salford Together to access a new transformation fund of £200 million set up to help redesign and improve patient care across the sites chosen.
