Team helps thousands of patients receive urgent care at home

This Celebrating Community Services Week (7 to 13 October), we’re highlighting the work of a specialist team who provide urgent care for people at home.

The Mid and South Essex Urgent Community Response Team (UCRT) includes nurses, paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and healthcare support workers.

They support patients who have an urgent health or social care crisis but do not require hospital treatment.

They aim to reach people within two hours wherever possible, depending on demand.

The UCRT can provide a full holistic nursing or therapy assessment and can arrange urgent equipment and care if needed to support people to remain safely at home during a period of ill health.

The team are able to carry out a range of urgent tests in the community and as part of the team they also have nurse prescribers who can prescribe medication following an assessment.

UCRT have accepted more than 4,000 referrals between June and September this year alone, which included more than 880 referrals for people who had suffered falls but did not require hospital treatment.

Yvonne Mubu, Strategic Head of Urgent Community Response Team (UCRT) Services for the Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative, said: “We aim to ensure people can safely recover at home without needing to go into hospital unless it’s absolutely necessary.

“Being at home is known to help people recover faster, helps them stay as independent as possible, and is more comfortable than being in hospital.”

The UCRT is part of the Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative, a partnership between Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, Provide CIC and North East London NHS Foundation Trust.

They provide care for people living in mid and south Essex and accepts referrals from healthcare professionals, patients, carers, relatives and care line services.  

Find out more on the UCRT service page.