PEOPLE who are ill or suffer an accident in the district are now being offered a helping hand to stay in their own home.
Warwickshire County Council and South Warwickshire Foundation Trust (SWFT) are integrating their home care services to form Warwickshire HomeFirst.
The new service will consist of a 300-strong team providing short-term help to keep people at home for as long as possible after a crisis, hospital stay or change in health.
Some of the areas covered by the service will include falls prevention, improving nutrition and hydration and supporting those living with dementia.
SWFT chief executive Glen Burley said: “We need to work differently to ensure we can support our local communities and our partnership with Warwickshire County Council is enabling us to do this better together.
“The integration of these two services is the start of many projects to look at how we can work together to improve services.”
As part of HomeFirst, the team will arrange support for those discharged from hospital and respond to a community crisis within two hours.
They will also try to provide patients with the same staff to help care for them, promote independence and tailor plans to each patient.
County council chief executive Jim Graham said: “Homefirst is a very exciting and positive move towards integrating services and working across organisational boundaries.
“We both want to fully support users to live at home safely and independently, so this is one of the first steps to improve experiences and outcomes for people across Warwickshire.”
