NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group has awarded a prime provider contract to deliver care and clinical leadership across its intermediate care system. This consists of:

— providing clinical oversight and care services to intermediate care acuity individuals within their own homes or within care homes, where the patient’s own GP is unable to provide the enhanced level of care, preventing hospital admission,

— in addition, providing clinical oversight and care services to individuals within the existing intermediate care bed infrastructure, to support hospital discharges and reduce delayed transfers of care.

NHS West Cheshire Clinical Commissioning Group has awarded:

A prime provider contract to deliver care and clinical leadership across its intermediate care system. This consists of:

— providing clinical oversight and care services to intermediate care acuity individuals within their own homes or within care homes, where the patient’s own GP is unable to provide the enhanced level of care, preventing hospital admission,

— in addition, providing clinical oversight and care services to individuals within the existing intermediate care bed infrastructure, to support hospital discharges and reduce delayed transfers of care.

A named medical director or medical consultant will hold clinical responsibility and accountability for all patients under the care of the service, regardless of where they reside. The service provider will be held accountable for bed utilisation occupancy and patient flow key performance indicators across the health economy to ensure a fully integrated approach is adopted and pro-actively managed.

As clinical oversight and care provision is to be delivered across a number of locations and in partnership with a number of care providers:

— both in primary and secondary care,

— physical health and mental health — it is essential that an integrated approach is adopted to ensure that all available capacity is being utilised and patient flow is optimised.

It is anticipated the service will provide clinical oversight to circa 6 700 patients per annum.

Care will be provided to any patient registered with a GP Practice in West Cheshire Clinical commissioning group boundary that has been referred via:

— single point of access from community matrons, clinical team leaders, paramedics and general practitioners from the community,

— single point of access from out of area hospitals for West Cheshire patients.

Appropriate clinical oversight of the provision of intermediate care must be provided in all appropriate setting including:

— high dependency bed-based care,

— low dependency bed-based care,

— low dependency care provided in patient’s own home.