WIRRAL NHS Community Foundation Trust chief executive Karen Howell writes for the Globe ...

THIS week I would like to tell you about our fantastic services that help people get home from hospital as soon as possible and provide crisis support for those who find they are suddenly struggling to cope at home.

‘Home First’ supports hospital patients who are medically fit and ready for discharge, but have on-going needs for rehabilitation.

It enables them to leave hospital as quickly as possible, by assessing them as soon as they get home and organising the extra support and care they need.

Our 'Home First' staff (which include nurses, social workers, physiotherapists and occupational therapists) visit people in their own homes the day they are discharged from hospital.

They look at someone’s home environment and see how they carry out daily living tasks.

The team then produce a care plan that includes providing any specialist equipment needed, arranging physiotherapy or nursing support or organising visits from our own in-house health care assistants who can help with washing, dressing, meals etc.

When our ‘Home First’ team was first established just over a year ago, it was one of the first in the country to provide this type of service.

Over the last 12 months they have supported more than 1000 patients, enabling people to leave hospital and return to their home earlier.

An unnecessary stay in hospital can have a severe impact, both physically and mentally.

Some patients don’t regain the level of function they had prior to admission.

So it’s vital that people can return to their own homes as soon as they are medically fit. And it’s better for the NHS too; so far Home First has saved nearly £1 million, by freeing up hospital beds for those that really need them.

Running alongside 'Home first' is our 'Rapid Response' service.

This helps people that suddenly find themselves struggling to cope at home and, therefore, at risk of being admitted to hospital, even when it may not be the right place for them.

GPs, social workers, community nurses or any other clinical professional can refer someone into Rapid Response.

For people in crisis, our staff carry out a home visit to assess the person's needs within two hours.

Again they will organise any specialist equipment, nursing support or health care assistant visits that are needed or even arrange a short term placement in one of several care homes across Wirral.

Both of these invaluable services are helping hundreds of Wirral people who find themselves in a health and care crisis.

With 40 staff in the team, they can put immediate provision in place and then organise a more long term care package.

We are working really hard here at the Community Trust (along with our NHS and Wirral Council partners) to develop services that help people to stay in their own homes and get the care and support they need in their own communities, rather than having to stay in hospital.

It's fantastic to see what a difference these services can make to people's lives.