Care Homes Direct Enhanced Service

Report - 22 June 2023

Healthwatch Redbridge led a collaborative project seeking insight into GP services provided to Care Home residents. This project was commissioned by North East London Clinical Commissioning Group (NEL CCG), now known as NEL NHS.

North East London NHS want to find out how effective the GP Direct Enhanced Service (DES) is working in the North East London region and to evaluate the findings to better design future services for Care Homes in the region.

These services are provided by GP practices to provide primary care to care home residents, including out-of-hours support.

Our findings show that the DES service is well-received and greatly appreciated where it is functional. Many Care Home Managers felt the service they received enhanced the wellbeing of residents as this enabled a quick response when they experienced any changes in their health.

However, some Care Homes experienced a lack of responsiveness from their GP and managers very clearly linked this with worse outcomes for residents. Additional support has been offered to these homes.

These findings have been shared with North East London NHS to help shape future services.

 

Downloads

Care Homes North East London High Level Findings
Download (PDF 395 KB)
Care Homes Survey Report Redbridge
Download (PDF 1.23 MB)

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