Decision details

That the ONE Bromley Discharge Partnership be made a permanent feature of local hospital discharge arrangements with the input of Council services and jointly commissioned with the SEL CCG.

A key part of the local Winter Plan arrangements for 2020/21 was the Single Point of Access service or SPA, now known as the ONE Bromley Discharge Partnership.

Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, there was a strong integrated care services model developing with discharge services co located under a Transfer of Care Bureau. However, referral pathways and services were still working in a siloed way. Referral pathways could be time consuming, led to duplication across the system and were sometimes reactive and slow to respond to changing needs.

At Wave 1 of the Covid-19 pandemic all local health and care systems were required to put in place a Single Point of Access (SPA) arrangement to enable the timely discharge of patients and to avoid hospitals becoming overwhelmed.

Building on the existing work of the Transfer of Care Bureau, the One Bromley health and care partnership put in place a SPA infrastructure made up of:

•  A multi-agency clinical triage system, and

•  Integrated pathways that supported people being discharged to home and or care homes with rehab and therapies support

This system has allowed the integration of discharge services beyond a co-location and enabled a single patient/resident focus rather than a service focused pathway. The arrangements maximise independence and give first priority to helping people to be discharged to their home with appropriate personalised support.

An impact analysis of the SPA conducted by the CCG and LBB, in consultation with stakeholders, has found that this model has provided timely and effective support for residents in their transition home.