Integrated care in the community, for the community
The overarching ambition of the new model for community-based care in Birmingham and Solihull is to keep people healthy and independent at home, reducing reliance on hospital and long-term care and shifting from responsive care to planned care.
Delivered through six localities, the model is underpinned by the core principals of the new Ten Year Plan for the NHS and a commitment to developing a neighbourhood health service to deliver high quality community-based alternatives to acute hospital services.
A 12-month pilot of the new model at the East Birmingham Hub in Bordesley Green has seen a 30 per cent drop in A&E attendance and a 14 per cent reduction in length of hospital stays.
The hub is home to a care co-ordination centre, an integrated neighbourhood team and a respiratory same day emergency care service. A new heart failure clinic will also be based there from August 2025, with more services due to open in the future.
Now, plans have been announced to open a further five neighbourhood hubs across Birmingham and Solihull in 2025, preventing many more unnecessary hospital admissions and reducing inpatient stays.
The new hubs will be located at Stockland Green Health Centre; Summerfield Primary Care Centre in Winson Green; Moseley Hall Hospital, West Heath Hospital; and Solihull Hospital.
Meanwhile, a further 11 integrated neighbourhood teams (INTs) are being established this year, alongside the existing five teams covering the north, south, east, west and central Birmingham localities. Nine new teams will be based in Birmingham and two in Solihull.
INTs bring together primary care, social care, community services, voluntary, community and social enterprise organisations, and mental health practitioners to provide proactive, co-ordinated care for high intensity users and act early to prevent deterioration.
Evaluation of the impact of the first INTs to launch showed their intervention led to a 31 per cent reduction in GP appointments, a 20 per cent drop in emergency department attendances and fewer inpatient spells, outpatient visits and community contacts.
Associate Director of Transformation Matthew Forrest said: “The short-term goal is to reduce avoidable service use and improve care for frequent users.
“The long-term ambition is to embed INTs across all 35 neighbourhoods and make population health management a local, relational, and sustainable reality.”