What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to the theme of 'How can we improve across system boundaries?​

Focused Care looks to provide high-quality holistic care to the group of patients who are at once the most vulnerable and complex, whilst also being the most difficult to reach and suffer the greatest health disparities. The Focused Care model leverages partnership working alongside general practice and local services to find those most in need and empower them to access appropriate care. People with a complex combination of health, finance, addiction, psychological, safeguarding, parenting, housing and social isolation related issues can be overwhelming for primary care. As such, Focused Care requires a broad-spectrum approach to service users and the reasons behind their failure to thrive. Focused Care supports the delivery of improved public health outcomes, such as, uptake of immunisations and cancer screening, reducing consumption of alcohol, improving chronic condition medication compliance, reducing inappropriate urgent care use, improving financial stability, and preventing homelessness.

What does your project aim to achieve?

Secondary Care:

There is evidence that suggests the adoption of the Focused Care Model in A&E and same day emergency care departments may have a significant role to play in reducing attendances and improving the quality of support available to those most in need, particularly in those departments located in areas with high levels of socioeconomic deprivation. It is therefore our intention, with support and guidance from the Q Community, to develop a project which aims to pilot the introduction of a Focused Care model into a busy emergency department in the heart of one of the most deprived neighbourhoods in the country.