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Beachcroft has advised health commissioners and providers in North West London on the Integrated Care Pilot. The scheme, which focuses on diabetes patients and the elderly, aims to coordinate the delivery of care across the whole range of providers in order to avoid hospital admissions, improve patient care and make efficiency savings.
Under the scheme, GPs, mental health trusts, community health trusts, acute trusts and local authority providers of social care will work together to provide truly integrated care through joint care planning. Beachcroft's role has been to devise an appropriate legal structure to enable collaboration between all parties and the transfer of funds to where they are needed. The firm worked closely with all commissioners and providers involved to create a straightforward and legally robust suite of documents for use in the scheme.
The NHS in North West London spends £189 million a year on care of the elderly and patients with diabetes, £10 million of which is spent on emergency hospital admissions to Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. The clinical evidence shows that these admissions could be avoided by investing in higher quality primary, community and social care.
The pilot, which was launched today at an event attended by Chris Ham, chief executive of the King's Fund, and representatives of NHS North West London, will benefit patients in Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow. The pilot will be evaluated and, if successful, rolled out across other clinical areas and regions.
Anne Crofts, Partner at Beachcroft, said: "The North West London Integrated Care Pilot is a ground breaking initiative which aims to demonstrate that care can be improved, hospital admissions reduced and money better spent through careful planning and coordination. Using our extensive knowledge of the healthcare sector, Beachcroft has been able to understand the complex issues involved, and translate these into a joined-up and practical solution for our clients."
Jayne Liddle, Programme Director of the Integrated Care Pilot in North West London, said: "Integrated Care represents a great opportunity for greater collaboration between organisations that provide health and social care in North West London. This will undoubtedly lead to better patient care. The team which has established this pilot has worked in partnership with Beachcroft to develop an underlying legal framework which helps facilitate greater collaboration and partnership working."