Our population is growing older and living longer, with an increasing number of conditions. And, with the emergence of new lifesaving treatments there are an increasing number of people needing rehabilitation services. Rehabilitation can no longer be described solely in terms of specific diagnoses, because many people do not fit such categories or follow one specific disease pathway.
In future, services need to be centred on a patient’s needs, not on their condition. The SWSCN is working with commissioners, providers, and patients and their carers to agree a high level, transparent pathway of delivery which is focused on patient needs. It is hoped such a pathway will increase the through put of patients, reducing waste and freeing up capacity in the system.
We have drawn together the skill and experience in the system to design a simple core rehabilitation pathway that all commissioners in the South West can use as the basis of their commissioning intentions in the future because they are confident that:
- It is built on the understood needs and wants of people who life in the South West
- It represents good practice and recent learning on rehabilitation, reablement, recovery and survivorship
- It addresses the question of equity, fairness and the ‘post code’ lottery head on
- It provides people who are rehabilitating with a clear understanding of:
- What’s happening
- How long treat or therapies will last
- Exactly what they are entitled to
- What response times will be
- How long they will be in the pathway
- What happens (and when) if they need to re-join the pathway for any reason
Work to support the implementation of the pathway in 2015/16 commissioning plans is ongoing.
