Derby citizens are being asked for their views on a proposed partnership to jointly deliver a range of health and care support services in the city.

A consultation has been launched to allow people to have their say on the potential integration of Derby City Council (DCC) and Derbyshire Community Health Services (DCHS). They provide services aimed at helping people remain and live independently at home for as long as possible.

The partnership would create a single service that supports people to stay at home when their health or care needs change, and to help people who need assistance after a hospital stay.

These services, commonly known as rehabilitation and reablement, aim to help people recover from ill health or help people who may have an urgent and changing situation at home such as a disruption to their normal health and care routine.

DCC and DCHS are already working closely together by sharing the skills of their staff, but this proposal will take this a step further so the teams will be better placed to support more people into the future.

The new partnership would create a single care and support team, with a wide range of skills, supporting the needs of Derby residents who wish to live independently in the place they call home. This type of support would only be for a very short time - usually up to two weeks - and would assess whether other help would be needed on a longer-term basis.

Joining forces in a partnership arrangement could mean:

  • More people are supported with their urgent health and care needs at home, to remain independent for longer.
  • There will be a more consistent response for everyone, as the new team would be larger and therefore should be better be able to meet the demands for health and care because of population growth and changes.
  • There may be a smaller number of different professionals that individuals and their families deal with. This is because the new team could undertake a single initial assessment, share information and be able to respond using a wider set of skills and abilities.
  • By working as one team this could mean people only need to tell their story once. Heath care information would be held in one central place, rather than separately and in multiple organisations.

Councillor Alison Martin, Derby City Council Cabinet Member for Integrated Adult Care and Health, said:

Helping people to live well and get the care they need at home and following hospital treatment is very important. The aim of further integration is to enhance these services for people and to make it easier for NHS and care staff to deliver them.

I hope as many people as possible will respond to this consultation so that we can consider as many views as possible when developing the services.

No decision will be made until the consultation process has concluded. Any changes would take place from spring 2024.

The consultation is now open and will run until Tuesday 14 November 2023. The consultation document containing full details of the proposals is available on the Let's Talk Derby website, where you can take part in the online survey. You can also download a paper copy to print and home and return it using the Freepost address.

You can request a paper copy to be sent through the post by emailing letstalkderby@derby.gov.uk.