Over 500 people have attended a first-in-Scotland event that brought a range of health and care services under one roof – in the heart of a community.
As part of a wider program of transforming and improving service provision, innovative Community Appointment Days (CAD) have been held at the John Wright Sports Centre in East Kilbride to accelerate access to support for individuals with musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions.
“We have been delighted by the response from patients to what is a new way of working for us – and one that has been championed by our staff – as we look to extend how we deliver care with and within our local communities,” said Professor Soumen Sengupta, Chief Officer of South Lanarkshire University Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP).
“This approach has enabled us to provide same-day access for patients from across our communities to assessments and then a comprehensive range of supports – including rehabilitation, advice on self-care and health promotion – within their community.
“This reflects our commitment to providing exceptional care and making best use of the resources that we have – and the full expertise of our multi-disciplinary workforce – to develop sustainable services that are fit-for-the-future.”
Claire Rae, Head of Health and Social Care with the HSCP stated “Our new CAD approach is a terrific example of how committed our teams are to innovation and improvement, with these developments having been led by our MSK Physiotherapy staff.
“It also reinforces the importance of strengthening local partnerships across health and care to increase the accessibility of our collective provision, with our particular thanks to our third sector partners and colleagues from South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture for their contributions.”
One patient who attended was glowing in their feedback: “I can’t thank the staff I have seen today enough. I felt listened to and supported. Staff were helpful, informative, and understanding. The service provided today was exceptional and I hope this method continues.”
Plans to maintain the momentum of the community-based approach are underway.
The feedback from the events will be used in the planning of future CADs, which will take place in other areas of Lanarkshire in the coming months. This will help realise the commitment to delivering care closer to people’s homes.
Brian Slattery, Acting Physiotherapy Musculoskeletal Strategy Lead, NHS Lanarkshire, said: “This was the second set of our CADs and the feedback we received from patients has been fantastic.
“On the day, patients had a ‘What Matters to You’ conversation with a physiotherapist to ensure we had a good understanding of what needed to be addressed and were expertly guided through a number of zones, including assessment, advice/guidance, movement, and our partner zone.
“Those who attended were then either discharged from the service (with the option to self-refer back at any time), given the option of arranging another appointment if their condition didn’t improve, or had a follow-up appointment booked before they left the event.
“We worked closely with our partners in South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture and are very grateful for their help, which was a key component to the success of these days.”
