Officially launched today, Ealing Community Partners brings together NHS, local government and third sector organisations in the area to organise and deliver physical and mental healthcare in a more coordinated way, closer to people’s homes.
“These hard-working staff all want to do a brilliant job and this partnership will really help them do that”
Claire Murdoch
Led by West London NHS Trust, the partnership will run for at least the next 10 years and will work to help people retain their independence, relieve pressures on staff and avoid unnecessary hospital attendances and admissions.
In the future, instead of general practitioners having to make multiple referrals for different services, they will be able to make a single referral to the local care team, which will be made up of a care co-ordinator, community nurses, physiotherapists and mental health professionals, and will work closely with social workers. Following an assessment, the team will be able to offer the individual the support they need in the best setting.
The partnership will deliver a range of services for adults and children previously run by London North West University Healthcare. These include domiciliary nursing care and community clinics, learning disabilities support, physiotherapy, podiatry, speech and language therapy and occupational therapy, and long-term conditions care such as diabetes.
National director for mental health
Claire Murdoch
Claire Murdoch, chief executive of Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, a mental health trust that is part of Ealing Community Partners, said: “We’re very pleased to be part of this partnership: it’s better to work together for patients, by drawing on the expertise of all partners and the strengths of each.
“It’s also better for staff, with more certainty and fewer artificial boundaries between services,” added Ms Murdoch, who is also NHS England’s national mental health director and a nurse by background.
“These hard-working staff all want to do a brilliant job and this partnership will really help them do that,” she said.
Carolyn Regan, chief executive of West London NHS Trust, said the launch of Ealing Community Partners enabled local organisations to work together in an “unprecedented way to provide the type of co-ordinated care the people of Ealing need”.
The partnership has a contract with Ealing NHS Clinical Commissioning Group to deliver community health and care services until 2029.
“We look forward to seeing Ealing Community Partners go from strength to strength”
Mohini Parmar
Dr Mohini Parmar, chair of the CCG, said today’s launch had been preceded by months of planning and preparation and engagement with the local population, patients and healthcare staff.
“We look forward to seeing Ealing Community Partners go from strength to strength in the coming months and years ahead, delivering an excellent standard of healthcare that the population of Ealing needs and deserves both now and in the future,” Dr Parmar said.
The organisations that make up the partnership are: West London NHS Trust, Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, Argyle Surgery, Certitude, Dementia Concern, Ealing Centre for Independent Living, Ealing Council, Hestia, The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Imperial College Health Partners, London Central & West Unscheduled Care Collaborative, Marie Curie, Mind in Ealing and Hounslow and We Coproduce.
https://www.nursingtimes.net/news/research-and-innovation/new-cross-boundary-community-partnership-launched-in-ealing/7029530.article