Health and care leaders in Gloucestershire are predicting a challenging winter, but say their services are working more closely than ever before to plan ahead and make best use of all available resources.

This week, One Gloucestershire partners published their winter plan, ‘Working with you through winter,’ which outlines the raft of measures being put in place to help services and staff manage the increased levels of need during the season (see notes).

The plan contains profiles of each service area across the health and care system, with pledges detailing how they will work together to support patients and the public this winter.

It focuses on keeping people safe and well at home, ensuring people can access the right care at the right time in the right place and supporting people to leave hospital and return home when safe to do so, with additional support in place if needed.

The public are also being urged to follow practical tips to help them stay well wherever possible and work alongside local services to support the most vulnerable.

Consultant in Emergency Medicine at Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Helen Mansfield, who has been supporting the development of the winter plan said:

“Our comprehensive plan is about putting service users at the heart of all we do. Despite the inevitable pressures that will face health and care services this winter, our priority is having the best possible measures in place to maintain high quality care and work more seamlessly across our health and care family.

Whilst setting out our proactive plans, we are also being honest about the scale of the challenge. We would like to thank our fantastic teams across Gloucestershire. Their determination to deliver the best care they can when under pressure continues to be the backbone of our health service. This is what makes a difference to our service users every day.

We are urging people to think carefully about how they access services this winter, particularly when it’s not a medical emergency, and continue to follow our simple campaign messages to get the right support and care in the right place.”

Medical Director at Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Amjad Uppal, said:

“The colder months always present additional challenges, particularly for those who are vulnerable, perhaps through their age or medical conditions. Winter is always tough so it’s important we all play our part in keeping people safe and well.

We are working with our partners as well as our communities to plan and join up community services and support, but everyone can help – so please work with us and look out for family, friends, and neighbours at what is a difficult time for many.”

Executive Director, Adult Social Care, Wellbeing and Communities, at Gloucestershire County Council, Professor Sarah Scott, said:

“This winter, the NHS and social care services in Gloucestershire are working closer than ever before, with an emphasis on providing support at home first, helping people to avoid unnecessary hospital stays, and supporting them to recover in the most appropriate place once they are ready to leave hospital.

We are also asking relatives and carers to do everything they can to work with us to get their loved ones home from hospital as quickly and as safely as possible. We encourage them to get additional help, if necessary, from local NHS community services or adult social care teams.”

Chief Medical Officer at NHS Gloucestershire, Dr Ananthakrishnan Raghuram said:

“We know there is a lot to think about as we head into this winter including the cost of living. Whether it’s advice and support for people to keep warm, prioritise their mental health, eat well, stay active or access help for carers or vulnerable relatives, our Stay Well This Winter campaign is here to help.

If you or a loved one are starting to feel unwell, we’d recommend getting early advice at your community pharmacy, particularly if you have a long-term health condition.

If you are ill or injured and not sure where to turn, our joint Click or Call First campaign will be on hand to help guide people to the right advice and support, with 111.nhs.uk and the 111 phone service available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Additional information

Read the Winter Plan ‘Working with you through winter’ here.

Some examples of the measures being taken by health and care services are:

  • All 105 of the county’s pharmacies have expanded the range of services they offer under the Pharmacy First scheme. Patients can now get treatment for seven common health conditions directly from their pharmacy, without the needs for a GP appointment or prescription.
  • GP surgeries will continue to work together to offer additional appointments during evenings and on Saturdays and support people to see the most appropriate healthcare professional.
  • A new Integrated Urgent Care Service (IUCS) will support joined up urgent care advice and support across the county 24/7. The service will manage all 111 activity both over the phone and online, as well as provide a doctor led Clinical Assessment Service and out of hours primary care services – at treatment centres or in people’s homes, when appropriate.
  • Recruiting additional staff across health and social care, including nurses, therapists and medical professionals.
  • Ensuring services are in place to assess, treat and support older people and people with mental health needs to return home from hospital on the same day, with on-going support if required.
  • Ensuring people are seen by the most appropriate member of the team first time, by-passing waiting in A&E if appropriate and going straight to an assessment service.
  • Reducing the time it takes to get people out of hospital when appropriate and improving decision making by bringing health and social care colleagues together in the Integrated Flow Hub located at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.
  • Social Workers working in the two large hospitals to help avoid unnecessary hospital stays and to support planning for post hospital care.
  • Making sure arrangements are in place for people to leave hospital safely:
  • additional staff working in the ‘hospital to home’ teams.
  • increasing access to reablement and domiciliary (home) care staff – providing nursing care for patients and families at home where needed.
  • Development of community hubs dedicated to serious respiratory infections, with patients receiving same day access to care out of hospital while also creating additional capacity for hospitals and ambulance services.
  • Significant expansion of Virtual Wards to support people in the place they call home e.g. trauma, frailty, heart failure and respiratory conditions.
  • Improving how closely our joined-up community health and care teams/rapid response services work together.
  • Voluntary and community sector partners providing a follow up service to ensure patients are supported to remain at home after leaving hospital.
  • Making best use of the two large hospital sites so planned surgery can continue and reducing the backlog built up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The partnership Stay Well This Winter campaign will encourage people to plan ahead and take practical steps to support their health and wellbeing this winter with access to a wealth of information to support them.

Top tips by topic will be available through a range of channels including door to door, local media, social media (including video shorts) and materials in public places. An online campaign resource area is available at: onegloucestershire.net/SWTW

The Click or Call First campaign offers clear, simple, and consistent messaging about the main routes into urgent care, how to get step-by-step advice on the right care for you and raises awareness of individual services and how they can help. Content will be available through the routes mentioned above.