Improving Lives Plymouth (ILP) joined colleagues from University Hospitals Plymouth (UHP) and Livewell Southwest (LSW) on Tuesday 11 November for a dedicated showcase event designed to strengthen referral pathways between clinical teams and the voluntary sector.
The session formed an important part of our ongoing work with Complex Lives, which aims to better support people with complex needs to avoid unnecessary hospital attendance and admission.
ILP is one of Plymouth’s longest-standing community charities, starting in 1907 and existing to support Plymouth’s communities for over 115 years. The charity is supported by 67 paid staff and over 80 volunteers across many services.
The ILP team outlined the breadth of services available to patients once they return home, including long-term condition services, veteran support, welfare and benefits advice delivered in partnership with Citizens Advice, support for unpaid carers and services for people with hearing or visual impairment. By bringing these opportunities directly to frontline teams, the event aimed to empower colleagues to build confidence in how to refer or signpost patients to the voluntary and community sector. This is particularly useful work for the Complex Lives teams who often require input from multiple services to support patients who access our services for healthcare.
There was strong engagement from therapy teams, nursing colleagues, clinical leaders, operational managers and virtual attendees from across UHP and Livewell. Many expressed enthusiasm for being involved in the next phase of designing how we work collectively with ILP to enhance continuity of care.
Reflecting on the event, Ryan Hunneman, a Senior Transformation Manager for the Healthy Lives Partnership, said: “It was inspiring to hear the ILP team share the wide range of support they provide to people across the city.
“The event highlighted that ILP offers extensive support for people of all ages, and ensuring patients are aware of these services after an episode of care is something we must work on together. We are grateful for ILP’s openness and commitment to collaborating with UHP and Livewell to improve access for our patient population. This feels like a strong start.”
Building on the energy from the session, we will shortly be convening a multi-organisational mapping and co-design workshop. This next step will focus on creating clear, seamless referral pathways that enable clinical teams to confidently connect patients with ILPs charitable and community services as part of their ongoing recovery and wellbeing plans.
The work we carry out here with multiple organisations in the charity sector is crucial to supporting patients access care and assistance in the right place and at the right time. You can watch a short reflection of the event in the accompanying video.
If you have any questions or would like to find out more about Improving Lives Plymouth please get in touch with larissa.milden@improvinglivesplymouth.org.uk. Or, if you would like to find out more about the work of the Complex Lives Team and Healthy Lives Partnership please get in touch with ryan.hunneman@nhs.net
In this issue:
- Getting to know Neil Macdonald, Chief Executive
- We reached the highest point of the Plymouth Community Diagnostic Centre
- Groundbreaking ceremony marks start of construction for new Emergency Care Building
- Strengthening the Trust’s Social Value
- Official opening of the Dartmoor Building #ThinkUTC
- We treated the first patient in the UK with a new laser catheter for vascular disease
- Young Persons’ Patient Council Marks Its First Year of Making a Difference
- Improving Lives Plymouth showcase their support to patients beyond hospital care