Short Term Care Centre Opens

A new short term care centre to help people recover from illness and ensure they don’t spend longer than necessary in hospital, has welcomed its first patients.

Plymouth City Council has worked in partnership with Age UK Plymouth and NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group to refurbish the upper two floors of the William and Patricia Venton Centre.

The newly refurbished short term care centre, which is being run by Livewell Southwest and Age UK Plymouth, has 24 en-suite bedrooms to provide a safe place for patients to stay after they have been in hospital.

This could be for up to six weeks, with support from therapists and assistive technology and opportunities to engage in social activities in the rest of the building. The aim is that when people leave the centre they are feeling much better and ready to go home and live as independently as possible.

Michelle Thomas, Chief Executive Officer at Livewell Southwest, said: “This is fantastic news for Plymouth residents and a wonderful example of local health and care organisations working in partnership to find new and improved ways of caring for people in our communities.

“This new service not only provides a calm and caring setting for people who are not yet well enough to return to their homes, it also helps to create more space in our busy acute hospital for those with the most urgent and critical needs, as well as the entire Plymouth health and care system.

“I’m delighted this initiative will give people and their families/carers more time to increase their confidence in their strengths and capability to live their best possible life in their own homes. The Short Term Care Centre is a wonderful step forward for the city and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.”

The Council has invested £823,410 of capital funding into the refurbishment and will lease part of the building from Age UK Plymouth who will continue to use the rest of the building to run their other services, including a Day Centre. Age UK Plymouth have invested £310,000 in the development of the short term care centre.

The care centre will also offer support to older people who would otherwise be at risk of being admitted to hospital, which will continue to reduce pressures on Derriford Hospital.

Anna Coles, Plymouth City Council’s Service Director for Integrated Commissioning said: “The Plymouth health and care system has collectively faced significant challenges posed to it by relentless pressure from COVID-19. The system has responded brilliantly to this situation by putting collaborative solutions in place between health and care providers, which has allowed an already under pressure urgent care system to manage these unprecedented times. This would not have been possible without the creativity and commitment of community services to support acute services through these challenging times.”

Jo Turl, NHS Devon Clinical Commissioning Group’s Director of Commissioning said: “The short term care centre is a great example of the way organisations across Devon’s health and care system and the VCSE sector have been working together to support our hospitals and address the challenges in discharging people when they are ready to leave.  More importantly it will support patients to regain their independence after a stay in hospital while reducing delays for other patients who need a bed.”