'Extremely positive' news for older people in Hartlepool keen to live happy, independent lives at home

An update on the Hartlepool Better Care Fund Plan is to go before the borough’s Health and Wellbeing Board.

The Better Care Fund (BCF) is a programme spanning both the NHS and local government, which seeks to join-up health and care services, so people can manage their own health and wellbeing, and live independently in their homes for as long as possible.

It aims to improve the lives of some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Four main targets are in place.

A report from Jill Harrison, council Director of Adult & Community Based Services, said Hartlepool has met all four targets for 2019/20 based on information available.

It adds the position in relation to performance is ‘extremely positive’.

The first target was to reduce permanent admissions to care homes, which was met with 123 admissions against the target of no more than 148.

Another target is to increase the percentage of older people still at home 91 days after discharge into reablement/rehabilitation services.

Data for the last quarter of 2019/20 indicates the target has been achieved, just like last year, with 84% of older people still at home 91 days after discharge into rehabilitation services.

Another target area looked at the rate of delayed transfers of care from hospitals per 100,000 population, and reports said it was due to meet the yearly target up to the end of February, with reporting since suspended due to Covid-19.

Data for 2019/20 indicated the target was on track to be achieved again with 1,233 days delay reported against a target of 2,754 at the end of February, which was a ‘dramatic improvement’ on recent years.

The final aim focused on reducing non-elective admissions to hospitals, and the target was achieved in 2019/20 for the first time, according to the report.

It said: “Year-end data for 2019/20 indicates that the target has been achieved for the first time since the BCF plan was developed, which is a significant achievement.

“There were 13,674 admissions against a target of 14,395 despite some impact on Q4 performance linked to Covid-19.”

The full report will go before Hartlepool Health and Wellbeing Board at its meeting on Monday, September 7, from 10am.

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