Reducing re-admissions is crucial for the NHS. Readmissions cost £2.2bn per year and take up beds which are needed for other patients. At the same time, nobody wants to be stuck at hospital when they could be recovering confidently in their own home environment. The Home from Hospital project was developed to enable patients to thrive back home safely and comfortably, and to support our local NHS services.
Patients referred to the programme are provided with flexible, short-term support designed to meet their most important needs. Support may include helping with food shopping, or collecting prescriptions on the person’s behalf, emotional support through a friendly face, or practical tasks such as helping to fill in forms and making sure the person’s home is safe and secure.
Our aim is to give the person the confidence to continue their recovery successfully at home. We also seek to provide our volunteers with a memorable and meaningful experience through befriending an older person in their local community.
The project is operated by a consortium of organisations locally in Newcastle. This includes ourselves at Volunteering Matters as the lead partner, and Chain Reaction. The project is funded by North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board, working together across Newcastle supporting patients discharged from the RVI and Freeman Hospital.
To find out more, or to get involved as a volunteer, please get in touch with Fran using the below details:
Fran Elliott francesca.elliott@volunteeringmatters.org.uk 07534 043 578