Supporting Older People and Reducing Pressure on Hospitals

Background and project summary:

Westbank has been successful in securing funding from the Cabinet Office and NHS England to deliver a project using social action to help older people stay well, manage their conditions or recover from illness or injury, and thereby reduce pressure on hospitals. The objective is to scale up and robustly test a small number of social action services over winter 2014/15, with a view to mainstreaming successful interventions. We plan to use the funding to increase and target the support available to older people in order to prevent emergency admissions to hospital and delayed discharge.

Our project is an 8 month pilot social action programme described as follows: the mobilisation of an army of volunteers and good neighbours to enable people aged 75 and over to live a happy, healthy, safe and meaningful life where they feel part of a community and connected to those around them; which in turn leads to less reliance on traditional healthcare models.

The geographic focus for the project is Exeter and Budleigh Salterton.

The three main elements of the project are to:

· Upscale the Westbank volunteer-led patient support service model across a wider geographical area – working with existing groups and developing new capacity to fill gaps in provision. The Westbank model currently provides the following: transport (to healthcare appointments, rehabilitation and preventative classes such as falls prevention, exercise classes); support for carers; domiciliary support (befriending, shopping, pet care, form-filling); introduction to social groups and activities; public health awareness campaigns (flu jabs, warm & well, skin cancer awareness); memory cafes; home from hospital support; falls prevention; lifestyle support (healthy eating, physical activity opportunities and improving low level mental ill-health)

· Target this enhanced support at an identified group of patients, aged 75 and over who are deemed to be at high risk of emergency admission or delayed discharge to/from hospital. Working in close cooperation with health and social care service and community provision we will increase the ability of individuals to remain in their own homes

· Roll out to Exeter and Budleigh Salterton a Neighbourhood Health Watch (NHW) model which works well in rural areas in Devon. NHW is about neighbours working together to improve the overall health and wellbeing of their communities and signposting people who need support to appropriate services. Bringing together Public Health, GPs, Police and the Fire Service at a community level, the project engenders social action and promotes volunteerism. This increases community resilience and enables early identification of at risk members of the community

The resultant service will be an older people’s health and wellbeing service, working alongside GPs and Hospital Discharge Teams and embedded in local communities. It will provide a single point of access for GPs, Hospital Discharge Teams, Devon Carers Hospital Discharge service and other health and social care professionals to refer patients aged 75 and over that they think could benefit from additional support in order to help them stay well, manage their conditions or recover from illness or injury – thereby potentially preventing admission to hospital or a delayed discharge from hospital. A referral will trigger an assessment by a Volunteer Project Development Manager (VPDM). The assessment will cover such things as: connectedness within a community, dealing with feelings of isolation/loneliness where relevant; caring responsibilities and access to carers support services; physical health including strategies for keeping warm and self-management of conditions; safety within the home covering such things as falls prevention, and fire safety; and practical support within the home such as help with cooking and shopping.

Following the assessment the VPDM will draw up a plan indicating areas the patient would like support with and outlining how this will be executed. The support that people receive will be person-centered and individualised. We will help people to set realistic goals to regain, maintain or improve their health and wellbeing. The VPDM will then liaise with volunteers to set up the package of involvement/engagement/support. This will include working with our partners in Leagues of Friends, Neighbourhood Health Watches, Devon Carers, local Age UK / Age Concern branches, local exercise/rehab sessions and the Fire Service.

The project will raise awareness of vulnerable older people within communities, increase social capital, create co-ordinated support networks and increased social contact for those most isolated. Trained volunteers will empower people to better self-manage health conditions, take sensible steps to look after themselves during winter and ensure that early signs of declining health and wellbeing are dealt with before an emergency arises, thereby preventing the need for unplanned hospital admissions. We expect to have a positive impact on delayed discharge through co-ordinated support, enabling recovery to happen safely at home. The support will target patients and their carers, to prevent carer breakdown and increased risk to both. It will be linked to the person’s discharge plan and involve volunteer support in the planning. Additional impacts will be increased community resilience, carers identified and supported, an increase in trained volunteers, reduced social isolation, increased physical activity, healthier eating & healthier lifestyles.

Targets:

· 80 volunteers to be recruited by 31/10/14; a further 40 volunteers to be recruited by 28/02/15

· 608 eligible people supported by the service by 31/03/15 (480 in Exeter, 128 in Budleigh Salterton)

Delivery of the project will be overseen and co-ordinated by a Project Management Team. The Project Management Team will also take the lead on establishing links with GPs and Hospital Discharge Teams and on developing referral and assessment mechanisms. The Project Management Team will provide the lead for the Project Delivery Team which will be comprised of the 3 Volunteer Project Development Managers plus representatives from Neighbourhood Health Watch and the Budleigh Health Hub. Delivery will additionally be supported by a Project Evaluation Team and a Project Advisory Group.

Job Description

Job Title: Volunteer Project Development Managers (Supporting Older People and Reducing Pressure on Hospitals project)

Responsible to: Head of Volunteering

Salary: NJC.SO1.30 (£25,727 pro rata per annum)

Hours: Three available posts:

Volunteer Project Development Manager for Exeter – 37 hours a week

Volunteer Project Development Manager for Exeter – 18.5 hours a week

Volunteer Project Development Manager for Budleigh – 18.5 hours a week

Length of contract: Fixed term contracts, starting with immediate effect and finishing on 31/03/15

Location: Exeter postholders to be based at our centre in Exminster and Budleigh postholder to be based in the Budleigh Health Hub on the hospital site in Budleigh

Overview of Role:

The three Volunteer Project Development Managers (VPDMs) will initially be required to develop and implement a high-level and innovative volunteer recruitment campaign in order to meet and hopefully exceed our target of recruiting 120 volunteers during the project lifetime. This will include working with others in the Project Delivery Team and in the wider Westbank Volunteering Team, as well as with our partner organisations. The recruitment of volunteers will need to be underpinned by the development of a robust training and support package.

The second main aspect of the role will be the co-ordination of referrals to the project. Referrals will be received via telephone, email and post. It will be the role of the VPDMs to deal with all referrals to the service and to carry out assessments with older people, either on the telephone or face to face. Following assessment the VPDMs will draw up plans and initiate appropriate packages of volunteer-led support.

The third main responsibility of the VPDMs will be to maintain contact with people referred to the service and with the volunteers engaged in packages of support in order to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the service and in order to pick up on and react to any causes for concern or changes in circumstance.

Key objectives (for the 3 VPDMs combined):

1) The recruitment and training of 80 volunteers by 31/10/14; a further 40 volunteers to be recruited and trained by 28/02/15

2) 608 eligible people supported by 31/03/15 (480 in Exeter, 128 in Budleigh Salterton)

Key tasks:

1. To develop and implement a high-level and innovative volunteer recruitment campaign. This needs to include both the recruitment of volunteers along the Westbank volunteer-led patient support service model and the roll-out of the Neighbourhood Health Watch (NHW) model alongside the NHW Project Lead

2. To work with partner organisations around the recruitment of volunteers for the project, helping to build capacity where necessary

3. To develop a robust training and support package for volunteers tailored according to the type of volunteering being undertaken

4. To co-ordinate referrals to the service. This will involve completing assessments with eligible people, either over the telephone or face to face; and subsequently drawing up plans and initiating appropriate packages of volunteer-led support

5. To maintain contact with people referred to the service and with volunteers engaged in packages of support. This is in order to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the service and in order to pick up on and react to any causes for concern or changes in circumstance which might necessitate either the use of the escalation plan[1] or of further intervention

6. To be responsible for collecting and maintaining monitoring and evaluation data/information as specified by the Project Evaluation Team and for completing all reports requested by the Project Management Team

7. To work with the Project Management Team and as part of the Project Delivery Team to develop and refine both the referral and assessment processes

8. To work with the Project Management Team and as part of the Project Delivery Team to elicit appropriate referrals to the service

9. To attend meetings of the Project Advisory Group as requested

10. To work in liaison with the Project Management Team towards sustainability of the service

11. To work collaboratively as part of a team with the following: the other VPDMs; the Project Management, Delivery and Evaluation Teams; other members of the Westbank Volunteering Team; Westbank staff team as a whole

12. To liaise with the Head of Volunteering before incurring any expenditure

13. To ensure relevant policies, procedures and good practice guidelines are followed to meet the project’s and organisation’s legal and contractual obligations

14. To work as part of Westbank’s Volunteering Team and to take on other duties as directed to fulfil the role of the organisation

Person Specification

Task

Essential

Desirable

1. To develop and implement a high-level and innovative volunteer recruitment campaign

Experience of recruiting, training, supporting and managing volunteers.

Experience of recruiting high volumes of volunteers or of designing creative/innovative ways to recruit volunteers.

2. To work with partner organisations around the recruitment of volunteers for the project, helping to build capacity where necessary

/ Experience of partnership working.
Experience of capacity building within communities or organisations. /

3. To develop a robust training and support package for volunteers tailored according to the type of volunteering being undertaken

Experience of developing and delivering training packages.

Experience of conducting health and/or care assessments with people and of putting together packages of care.

Experience of collecting and maintaining monitoring and evaluation information.

Experience of writing reports. /

7. To work with the Project Management Team and as part of the Project Delivery Team to develop and refine both the referral and assessment processes

/ /

Experience of developing referral or assessment processes.

8. To work with the Project Management Team and as part of the Project Delivery Team to elicit appropriate referrals to the service

/ /

Experience of working with health and social care professionals to elicit referrals to a service.

Excellent team player.

/
Task / Essential /

Desirable

Other: / Excellent written and verbal communication skills. /
Ability to prioritise tasks and manage own time effectively /

Ability to self-manage and work independently

/
Ability to enthuse and motivate others /
Excellent organisational skills /
Commitment to equal opportunities /
High standard of computer literacy /
Dynamic and committed to the project /

Car driver with own transport

Good understanding of local statutory services and charitable, voluntary and community organisations

[1] The escalation plan indicates early signs and symptoms that need to be acted upon and a mechanism for referral into relevant health and care services if there are concerns about a patient that cannot be met by voluntary input alone