Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust: Empowering patients within the Extensive Care Service

Summary

The Extensive Care Service is part of the Fylde coast Vanguard and is designed for frail elderly patients with two or more long-term conditions who are at high-risk of an emergency admission. Working closely with patients, the service aims to assist them to improve their health and wellbeing; support them to manage their own conditions and provide effective interventions when needed in order to better manage exacerbations of their conditions.

One of the key components of the care model is patient activation. The service teams’ understanding of an individual’s ability to contribute to the management of their own health and wellbeing is key to ensuring the success of this approach.

The model is new, different and includes the development of a unique role - a ‘wellbeing support worker’. These individuals are a consistent feature in a model which enables a fuller understanding of a patient’s ‘activation’ ability so that engagement and support can be tailored appropriately.