Source The Guardian: Plan aims to relieve strain on hospitals by offering a visit within two hours.
Older people and the very sick will be visited within two hours by a “rapid response team” of health and care staff under new NHS plans to relieve the strain on overcrowded hospitals.
The teams will include nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, social workers and social care staff working for NHS trusts and local councils in England.
The “urgent community response” teams will operate 365 days a year. They will help older people and those with complex care needs whose health has suddenly deteriorated – through a fall, infection or exacerbation of an illness – try to avoid ending up in a hospital. Read on.