First Community Health and Care today launches its Urgent Community Response (UCR) Service.
The new, multidisciplinary UCR team will provide an urgent response in the community to east Surrey residents seven days a week from 8am to 8pm, giving patients the right care in the right place, including in their home if it is safe to do so, to prevent hospital admissions or readmissions.
Referrals to the service will be accepted from GPs, the ambulance service and other healthcare professionals. Patients cannot self-refer, and all referrals will be triaged and assessed by the team. If clinically necessary, patients will be seen within two hours, but they may also be seen later that day or the next day if required.
Patients will have interventions put in place that last up to 72 hours. At the point of transfer, the UCR team will send a discharge summary, detailing treatment, and ongoing plans.
Lee Davies, Associate Director for Unscheduled Care, said: “This is an exciting new service which is good news for people living across east Surrey.
“The service will not only improve First Community’s ability to deliver enhanced and more effective first-rate health care in the community but will also support us to continue working effectively with our partners to ensure people get the right help at the right time, including at pace, if necessary, to avoid them having to go into hospital.
“This is not only more cost-effective for the NHS, but also ensures hospital beds can be made available more quickly for patients who need them.”
For more information on the UCR service click here.