Wantage hospital 'should be used to relieve bed blocking'

Home First, which was rolled out last summer, is a joint initiative by Oxfordshire County Council, Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group, Age UK, Oxford University Hospitals and Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trusts.

The service helps patients leaving hospital find what support they need to regain independence and confidence, speeding up when they are able to leave.

Indeed, there are already hundreds of people who have benefited from the innovative system.

But while it has been hailed as a 'workable solution' in theory, questions have been raised as to why closed community hospitals are not being used to relieve bed blockage instead.

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Jacquie Pearce-Gervis, chair of the Oxford branch of Patient Voice, pointed out that for people who live alone this could be a considerable worry.

She commented: "Home First sounds like an interesting and workable solution.

"Patient Voice feels that in principle this is an excellent plan.

"No-one wants to stay in hospital any longer than they need to.

"However, what about the patients who live alone?

"These people are fiercely independent and very hesitant to ask friends and neighbours to do their shopping, come in on a regular basis, or even move in for a while to help.

"This is a considerable worry and we hope that Oxfordshire County Council will take these concerns into consideration."

Ms Pearce-Gervis also argued that community hospitals across the county could be used to fill this gap.

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She added: "Sadly, they are being closing down."

The Patient Voice chair was referring to the Wantage Community Hospital on Garston Lane, which is owned by Oxford Health Foundation Trust.

Its 12 in-patient beds were shut in the summer of 2016 over fears of a possible legionella bacteria outbreak in the outdated hot water system, while other services continued.

But last October it was announced that the beds would not reopen despite extensive repairs.

Previously, the beds had largely been used as a halfway house for patients returning home from emergency care.

By now, Home First has supported more than 1,500 people in Oxfordshire.

Two of them are Norman Haynes and his wife Chris.

Mr Hayes, who is a retired firm manager in his eighties from Witney, had a five-week-long stay in hospital before being supported home by Home First.

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He had been unwell for some time before he was admitted to hospital, and things were becoming difficult for him and Chris on a daily basis.

Norman and Chris have a large family and have led an independent life up to this point, so the thought of needing help was daunting for them.

He explained: "I was dubious at the beginning about having carers and people coming into my home, but now I am so grateful to them and am very happy with how far they have helped me come."

When he was first discharged home, he needed support from two reablement support workers four times a day.

Home First's occupational therapist Jo was one of them.

She worked with the couple from day one at their home and helped to establish what was important to Mr Hayes and how this level of support could be stepped down as his independence and strength increased.

He had two key goals he wanted to achieve as he recovered from his long hospital stay.

Most importantly, it was getting out and about in the local community again on his mobility scooter, and getting back upstairs into his own bed, which would help both him and his wife.

It was clear that with the support of Home First’s reablement workers, he was quickly starting to make real progress with his mobility, and he was soon able to reduce the level of support he needed.

On top of his existing stairlift Jo was able to make a number of small changes such as fitting in rails to help Mr Hayes further regain his strength.

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And just three weeks later, the couple no longer needed Home First.

Ms Hayes said: "I was so pleased that the carers came in to help him when he came out of hospital.

"He has made so much progress and today he has gone out on his scooter to vote."

Mr Hayes also praised the two carers for going above and beyond in their support.

He said he is 'absolutely delighted' with the care and added: "They did everything they could do and more.

"I am extremely grateful for them, they did a wonderful job and now I can get out on my scooter, go to Marks and Spencer for some food."