1. Integrating Health and Reablement in Welshpool
Mair Jones
Occupational Therapy Team Lead
Welshpool Hospital
November 2011

2. The history Reablement 11 years in Welshpool
Restructure – in-line with rest of Powys
Communication
Leadership
Co-ordinated care
I’ll start by telling you a bit about the Reblement team in Welshpool. It was set up around 10 years ago. Reablement was a new idea and very few reablement teams around at the time.
The team consisted of a
OT , Physio, Social worker, Physio Technician, Support workers, Admin support.
The team have experienced difficulties over the past few years with the challenges of providing a reablement service over such a wide rural area with no clear leadership within the team. Communication was often fragmented and referral criteria not always clear. The team lacked direction and felt that they lacked support.
10 years on and reablement teams are being set up throughout Powys and in order to ensure an equitable service thorughout the county it was necessary to re structure the team in Welshpool to bring it into line with the other teams.
The new team will have a part time team leader - an occupational therapist, a part time ot, FT physio, Physio technician, more support workers, a support worker co ordinator, and increased admin hours.
There are two key documents which support this need for setting up highly effective reablement teams in this current climate. It is essential that we as healthcare practitioners work seamlessly with our colleagues in social care in order to improve services to out patients.

3. Key documents 'Setting the Direction.
Some of the The key underlying Principles include:
Focus on prevention, early intervention and improving public health
Co-ordinated care with wider support in the community to prevent ill-health, reduce dependency and effectively treat illness
A highly skilled and integrated workforce
Health and social care working together across the entire patient journey ensuring that services are accessible and easily navigated
Better support at lower cost :
The key underlying principles include
•They need to adopt a project management approach
•Savings realised by adopting approaches which provide good information and advice
•Reablement and effective health interventions, reducing the demand for residential and domiciliary care

4. The project Restructure – staffing Relocation of team
Health therapists taking on reablement roles
Before I started on the CLP I was asked to discuss possible project options with my line manager to take forward as my CLP project. My manager – Victoria Deakins and I discussed a few options before settling with the idea of the integration of health and reablement. It was work that needed to be done that had been talked about for quite a while but was dependant on funding which I was assured would soon be available. Funding was finally approved for new roles within the team during the Spring of this year and ever since things have moved on steadily, ……
The three main tasks which lay ahead of me were
1 . Restructuring the team. In order to bring the team in line with reablement teams in the rest of powys the following changes were necessary within the team. – recruitment of a team leader, recruitment of a support worker co-ordiantor, recruitment of more support workers, increased admin hours and removal of the social worker role within team
Relocation of team – following discussions with the reablement team and health staff, it was decided to relocate the reablement team to Welshpool hospital . Relocation is thought to improve communication and lead to better integration between health and reablement.
Health therapists taking on some reablement roles – this involves Ots working on the ward following the patients post discharge and accessing the reablement support workers to continue rehabilitation at home with no delay.

5. Benefits Improved patient care Improved communication
One point of contact
Clear leadership of team
Shared therapy resources
So…what are the benefits of making all these changes in Welshpool then?
IMPROVED PT CARE – as the reablement tem will have better links with health staff, it’s expected that communication will improve leading to improved patient care. Patients will hopefully be discharged home from hospital sooner and not have to wait to be re assessed again by reablement therapists as the health therapists will be carrying on their interventions leading to
ONE POINT OF CONTACT FOR THE PATIENT. The patient will have an opportunity to meet the support workers before returning home leading to reduced anxiety at point of discharge.
CLEAR LEADERSHIP – By employing team leader the team will be supported through this period of restructure. They will have a shared vision for the future and will free the current staff to get on with their work and provide the reablement service that our patients so desperately need.
Health and reablement teams will be able to SHARE RESOURCES more readily being based in the same building which can only be a benefit to patients, staff and the budget!

6. How? Liaison with social care managers Recruitment team leader
Recruitment of social services staff
Relocation into OT department
Health OTs – training DRAIG, access to support workers
Communication –
teams informed!

7. The future… Team leader - 1st December 2011 Social care staff IT???
Co-ordinator – soon to start
Support worker
Admin
IT???
Relocation – soon after TL starts
Training of health OT staff DRAIG
My project is by no means completed. Due to a delay in approval for funding for the restructure of the reablement service in North Powys I was unable to commence the project as early as I had hoped. Every week we are getting nearer to a positive outcome. The following points are on my to-do list in the next few weeks
Induction of team leader – have put an induction pack together
Social care staff – will be involved in the recruitment and selection process
Continue to organise relocation - reorganise dept – arranging desks, chairs, cabinets….
It continues to be a headache!
Continue to liaise with colleagues in social services colleagues to arrange training of health ots on ss it system to enable them to input and access client information.

9. Occupational Therapy Team Leader
Thank you
Mair Jones
Occupational Therapy Team Leader
Welshpool Hospital
Introduce Linda!!!!