Joined up, or ‘integrated care’, is a term we used to describe a process which makes it easier for health professionals from the NHS and social care professionals from council run services to work more closely and effectively together.
With an increasing number of people living longer in North West London and needing support and treatment for a number of different conditions, more and more people now receive care and support from several different doctors, social care staff and/or specialists.
That’s why it’s important that now, more than ever, health and care systems in North West London become more joined up and easier to navigate for anyone that needs them.
Today, health and social care is delivered by different organisations that work separately. Patients told us they were fed up with having to repeat the same information to different doctors or carers.
We are working to change this by putting people and their goals at the centre of a team of health and care professionals who work together smoothly, with a single approach.
Our Whole Systems Integrated Care (WSIC) programme is about giving people more say over their care, when and where they receive it, so that care is planned jointly between patients, their carers and the teams that support them.
By involving patients and carers on the journey from day one, we have a much better chance of achieving our vision: care that enables each of us to help ourselves. And by widening access to services that aren’t necessarily provided by the NHS, such as local buddying schemes and exercise groups run by third sector parties, we can better support people to maintain independence and lead full lives as active participants in their communities.