Great Yarmouth's projects to improve lives are expanded into Waveney

Healthy Homes Assistance and I'm Going Home were developed by Great Yarmouth Borough Council, with additional funding through a partnership with NHS Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group and Norfolk County Council.

Since launching across the Great Yarmouth borough in December 2016, the projects have taken 220 referrals from health and social care professionals and saved an estimated 879 hospital bed days.

Following this successful pilot, Suffolk County Council and Waveney District Council have now joined the partnership, enabling the projects to run in both areas from this month until at least March 2019, with Great Yarmouth acting as the joint referrals hub.

Healthy Homes Assistance enables those referred into the scheme to have safety improvements made to their homes, such as the installation of grab rails, level access showers and ramps for people who use wheelchairs. Works are funded by the Government's Better Care Fund.

The aim is to reduce unnecessary hospital admissions/re-admissions, and the associated costs to both personal wellbeing and the public sector, by helping to prevent falls and other accidents at home.

The sister service, I'm Going Home, is a short-term solution to enable hospital patients to be discharged as soon as they are well enough to return home, through loaning a 24/7 monitored community alarm and key safe.

The community alarm enables people to call for help quickly if they fall or become unwell, while the key safe provides additional reassurance by providing secure key storage outside the property so that others can gain access in an emergency.

Cllr Andy Grant, chairman of Great Yarmouth's housing and neighbourhoods committee, said: "These innovative services represent a Holy Grail for the public sector, in joining up health, housing and social care, and they have been highlighted both regionally and nationally as best practice.

"We are proud to have developed this approach in Great Yarmouth and pleased that other partners have seen its huge value in reducing demand on services, and more importantly, in the difference it has made to the lives of vulnerable residents who are at risk of entering hospital or who are in hospital and wanting to go home.

"This partnership approach supports one of the council's priorities, which is to build stronger, more resilient communities, help improve people's quality of life, and help existing services to work better together to support vulnerable people."

Cath Byford, deputy chief officer and director of commissioning at Great Yarmouth and Waveney Clinical Commissioning Group, said: "Healthy Homes Assistance and I'm Going Home are two projects which are really going to make a difference in the lives of local people. This is also a great example of the power of joined up working, we're grateful to all our partners for supporting these initiatives."

Bill Borrett, chairman of the adult social care committee at Norfolk County Council, said: "I'm very excited about these joint projects. Healthy Homes Assistance and I'm Going Home are perfect examples of personalising people's support to ensure they can live independently for as long as possible, helping to balance risk with having a good life.

"Closer partnership working with other local authorities and our colleagues in health will allow us to develop these effective ways of keeping people well and out of formal care."

Cllr Tony Goldson, Suffolk County Council's cabinet member for health and chair of the Suffolk Health and Wellbeing Board, said: "These projects have been a success in Great Yarmouth and it's really pleasing to hear they will be coming to Waveney, where we can further expand on their successes and provide better support for vulnerable people in the district."

Cllr Mary Rudd, Waveney's cabinet member for community health and safety, said: "These are fantastic schemes which have had a really positive impact on people's lives in Great Yarmouth and I am absolutely delighted that Waveney are now taking part.

"We share a number of demographic similarities with Great Yarmouth and joining this partnership will make a genuine difference to the quality of life enjoyed by local people."

Case study - 

Bob and Sylvia moved to the Great Yarmouth area, from Surrey, seven years ago. Following a number of health setbacks, including a heart attack and strokes, Sylvia has limited movement in her left side, is now blind in her right eye and partially sighted in her left and has balance issues, leaving her at high risk from a fall.  She also has rheumatoid arthritis.

Their current bathroom was fitted with a shower but needed a step over lip on a raised shower tray. After a number of small falls at home, Bob was left with no choice but to wash Sylvia in the kitchen to reduce the risk of a further fall.

After 16 months of washing this way, Bob and Sylvia were referred to Healthy Homes Assistance by an occupational therapist. Healthy Homes Assistance arranged a level access shower to be fitted at their home.

Sylvia is now able to shower independently once her husband has seen her into the shower room. Bob says the new shower room is brilliant and it gives him reassurance that she can manage safely. He said: "I would really struggle without it as I have my own back and heart issues. It gives me peace of mind."

Note: This is a real case study but names have been changed due to Data Protection.