Find out more below about some of the work the partnership has being doing to join up services, make them easier to access and available closer to home.
In order to provide more joined up care for the people of Walsall we have developed weekly virtual MDT meetings to support people with one or more health or social care needs.
These meetings are GP led and the other people involved in the meeting will depend on individual needs, but may include representitives from social care, mental health, pharmacy and the voluntary and community sector.
During these meetings a person’s health and well-being needs are discussed and recommendations and decisions are made together on how best they can be supported.
This may be signposting to local community groups to help a person support and manage their own care, developing a care plan and organising regular reviews or organising access to more specialist care.
Anyone whose role involves working with someone who they believe will benefit from the support of an MDT can refer an individual into the service.
The referral will be reviewed and if it meets the appropriate criteria will be discussed during an MDT meeting and followed up with either the referrer or the individual.
For more information on MDT teams and how to refer contact Karvin Jhalli on 07814103357 or email: mdt.walsall@nhs.net
We want to make sure all women, their babies and their families experience safe, kind, compassionate and personalised care and can access support that is centred on their individual needs and circumstances.
Through the Continuity of Carer initiative we ensure that pregnant ladies and their families have their own dedicated midwifery team supporting them throughout their pregnancy, during their birth and in the early stages of parenthood.
This means that closer relationships are developed and moms to be are supported and informed at every stage of their pregnancy, enabling them to make decisions about their care based on what matters most to them and their family.
It also allows for better co-ordination of care with a named midwife taking overall responsibility for ensuring all the needs of a woman and her baby are met and enables access to care closer to home through local community hubs.
The partnership launched its first continuity of carer midwifery service at Pelsall Village Centre (East locality) on 25 January 2021. A second location in the South locality has been identified and is expected to be up and running by August 2021.
The service has been introduced in response to the recommendations from the National Better Births Review (2016) and builds on the success of a Continuity of Carer model implemented by the Wyndlow Team within the Walsall Healthcare Trust Midwifery-led unit.
The model has been shown to offer major benefits for mothers and babies including significant reduction in miscarriages and pre-term births. National evidence shows that women who receive continuity of carer are:
• 7 times more likely to be attended at birth by a known midwife
• fewer antenatal admissions and shorter postnatal stay
• 16% less likely to lose their baby
• 24% less likely to experience pre-term birth
The aim is to have four fully established locality hubs delivering the continuity of carer model within Walsall by March 2022.
A service which enables patients with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions to see a specialist physiotherapist within a GP practice has been rolled out across identified Primary Care Networks in the borough.
This will allow patients quicker access to assessments and treatment, improve recovery times and give patients a much better experience of care.
It will also reduce the workload on GPs, who would usually be the first point of contact for a patient with an MSK condition, and for referrals to other services such as x-ray and scans.
The service was rolled out following a sucessful pilot scheme which was run at Anchor Meadow GP Practice.
As part of the pilot 93 patients were seen within two days of referral. Of these three were referred for x-ray, one for a MRI scan, one for blood test and the remaining 88 were given self-care treatment advice and exercises. None of the patients to date have returned to the GP practice with the same problem.
Following the success of the pilot scheme the partnership is now working with each Primary Care Network to implement a First Contact Physiotherapy Service within each locality within the next 18 months.
