A second phase of a facility in Barrow which helps people return home sooner after a hospital stay is set to open this month.
The intermediate care bed facility, at Parkview Gardens residential home in Barrow, provides a place for people who no longer need specialist hospital care, but still require support, to regain their independence in a residential setting before returning home.
The service offers embedded therapy support to mobilise patients out of their bed and improve mobility to aid and improve their transition back to their independent place of residence and prevent further emergency admissions.
Since opening in August, the facility has seen around 30 people come through the new service, with 15 now returned to their own home following a period of supported rehabilitation.
A second phase is due to open this month, increasing the number of intermediate care beds.
The service will also provide several planned respite beds for short-term support, which will afford full time carers an opportunity a break from their caring responsibilities.
Once all beds are open the service will also offer ‘step-up’ support for people in the community who need a short period of bed-based care, who might otherwise need to be admitted to hospital or long-term residential care.
It is a partnership between the NHS Lancashire and Cumbria Integrated Care Board, University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and Westmorland and Furness Council, the facility is the result of a review which highlighted a lack of provision for people leaving hospital, who needed a higher level of support than could be provided at home. People were staying in hospital longer than needed and unable to access services to help regain or maintain their independence.
The service is therapy-led and the team at Parkview includes physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social care staff. It is also closely linked with social work teams, who ensure any further support needed is in place for when people return home.
