The Enhanced Health in Care Homes (EHCH) framework is a significant component of the strategy to improve the health and well-being of residents in care homes.
Established as part of the NHS Long-Term Plan, the framework aims to deliver high-quality healthcare through collaborative and integrated services.
Overview
The EHCH framework is designed to ensure that residents of care homes receive proactive, personalised, and well-coordinated healthcare services.
The core idea is to bring together primary care, secondary care, community services, and social care to work as a single team, providing comprehensive and continuous support to care home residents.
Objectives
- Improve Quality of Life: Enhancing physical and mental health outcomes for care home residents.
- Reduce Hospital Admissions: Minimising the need for unscheduled hospital visits and admissions by providing timely and effective care within the care home setting.
- Personalised Care: Offering tailored healthcare plans that meet the individual needs and preferences of each resident.
- Preventative Care: Focusing on prevention, early identification, and management of health conditions.
Core Elements
Enhanced Primary Care Support:
- Provision of consistent medical support with designated General Practitioners (GPs) and healthcare professionals visiting care homes regularly.
- Development of personalised care plans, medicine reviews, and regular health assessments.
Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Working:
- Integration of various health and social care professionals, including doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, nutritionists, and mental health specialists.
- Regular MDT meetings to review resident health and ensure coordinated care delivery.
Comprehensive Geriatric Assessments:
- Detailed assessments which consider physical, mental, and social needs to create holistic care plans.
Access to Out-of-Hours/Telehealth Support:
- Ensuring residents have access to healthcare services outside of regular hours and through digital health solutions when needed.
Close Links with Social Care:
- Collaboration with social care providers to ensure residents’ social and emotional needs are met alongside their health requirements.
- Coordination with local authorities and care home staff for seamless service delivery.
Training and Development for Care Home Staff:
- Ongoing education and training programs for care home staff to enhance their skills and knowledge in providing healthcare support.
Pharmacy and Medication Reviews:
- Regular medication reviews by pharmacists to ensure appropriate use and to minimise polypharmacy risks.
Implementation
- The framework is usually implemented through local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) and integrated care systems (ICSs).
- It encourages the use of digital tools and data sharing to improve care coordination and efficiency.
Outcomes
The EHCH framework is expected to:
- Enhance the overall resident experience by providing dignified and compassionate care.
- Improve health outcomes with reduced emergency hospital admissions and length of hospital stays.
- Promote a more sustainable and efficient health and social care system through better resource utilisation.
In summary, the Enhanced Health in Care Homes framework is a holistic, integrated approach intended to deliver better health outcomes for care home residents through a coordinated, multi-disciplinary model of care.