People in Greenwich and Bexley are being supported to be cared for in their homes where possible through the Home First approach.
The approach has been developed to meet the health and care needs of local people by providing care at home, or in a community setting, to reduce the number of patients being admitted to and remaining in hospital.
The aim is to improve social care and health outcomes for our residents.
Home First addresses the increasing demands on local health and care services of a growing number of Greenwich and Bexley residents who are older and increasingly have more than one health need alongside social care needs.
Many people – especially older people and those with a long-term illness – require regular health and care in both acute and community settings. Research has shown that it is generally much better for most people’s mental and physical wellbeing to be supported in their own home.
Home First was established in Greenwich and Bexley in 2020 and built on a number of separate initiatives to enable people to have their health and care support provided at home, whenever appropriate to their individual needs. It was developed through listening to what mattered to local residents.
Previously the system had been primarily based around patients being in hospital beds, and discharges were largely driven by hospital bed capacity. Home First has reversed this approach to discharging patients and moved towards a ‘first priority as home’ ethos.
Over the last four years there has been significant investment in a number of Home First schemes that are gearing up to enabling people to receive the highest quality care in their own homes, where this is the best option for their health and social care need or condition.
These include virtual wards that allow patients to get hospital-level care at home safely and in familiar surroundings that help speed up their recovery, and reablement teams that provide care which supports patients to relearn how to do daily activities, like cooking meals and washing.
Some of the services that comes under Home First are listed below
The Community Rehabilitation and Short-Term Assessment Team (CRSTAT) works together with Greenwich Council. They provide community-based assessment, rehabilitation and prevention services for people over 18.
Find out more, including how to refer to the services on the Community rehabilitation and short term assessment team
The Joint Emergency Team (JET) assesses people who are aged 18 and over in their own homes.
You can find out more, including about referral, on the Joint Emergency Team
Greenwich Adult Single Point of Access (SPA) is a first point of contact for patients and referrers accessing Oxleas adult community services across Greenwich, and for all new referrals from GPs in the borough of Greenwich.
The team is the central contact for screening and signposting, they can help guide queries/referrals to ensure patients are guided to the right service at the right time.
You can find out more, including about how to get a referral to this service, on the Greenwich Adult Single Point of Access for adult community service