Sheltered housing in Tendring will be used to support patients leaving hospital in a move designed to relieve some of the pressure on health services in North Essex.
The initiative, funded by Essex County Council (ECC), will see otherwise empty Tendring District Council (TDC) sheltered accommodation use to temporarily home people coming out of hospital care.
It’s hoped the move will help reduce pressure on adult social care and hospital wards by providing accommodation for patients who are medically cleared for discharge but who cannot return home for other reasons.
This could include unsuitability of their home, such as being on the first floor or due to issues with disrepair, and the 12-week period allows time for those issues to be resolved.
The three-year agreement, made by TDC’s cabinet on October 7 follows a one-year pilot scheme – funded by the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance – which saw four flats used as temporary accommodation by ECC for up to 12 weeks by 16 people.
Following the decision by TDC’s cabinet, a further two sheltered flats in Weeley will be used, bringing the total to six, with the possibility that the number might be increased in future.
Paul Honeywood, TDC’s cabinet member for housing, said: “This initiative puts our empty properties to good use and guarantees us an income, helps relieve pressure on our hospitals and social care services; and, most importantly, will improve the lives of people who go through it as they can have their own space and not go into residential care.”
The pilot scheme saved ECC around £39,500 and Cllr John Spence, the council’s cabinet member for adult social care and health, said: “The financial saving is welcome, but far more important is the extra capacity this will add to the system and, therefore, the greater opportunity for people to have a pathway back to independent living in their own home.”
Examples of people helped in the pilot are an amputee who used the temporary accommodation while adaptations were made to their own home, and another who did not have a secure tenancy and could not return to their previous home after a hospital stay.
The pilot also reported that patients were less dependent on other support services, reported increased levels of confidence and greater engagement in their community.
