Monmouthshire County Council’s (MCC) Community Night Support Team have been recognised for their excellent work and commitment in supporting some of the county’s most vulnerable residents after making it to the final stages of Social Care and Health category for the 2021 LGC Awards.
The group of kind and caring people deliver vital support to people in need of care during the night across the county. The initiative came to fruition after MCC’s adult social care team came up with a plan to help support more people at night when less services are available. They recognised the real gap in current care that can leave people feeling vulnerable and lonely, and make their carers feel exhausted and overwhelmed.
Traditionally, care needs at home were only met between 7am and 11pm – no ongoing service was available outside of these hours. The only options were family support, up to three emergency waking night sits, a live-in carer or 24-hour residential care (both at significant expense to the person or the local authority) or to remain uncomfortable, cold and with risk of skin breakdown until the morning carer arrived.
Lisa Powell, an Occupational Therapist within the Abergavenny Integrated Services Team, realised a community night service could address many of these issues. It would see a single staff member providing scheduled calls, support by phone, and an ‘on call’ response, to a defined caseload where a robust risk assessment had taken place to support lone working at night. Twelve months’ funding was secured under the Intermediate Care Fund (ICF) to pilot this new service in Abergavenny. Lucy Dunlop was appointed Team Lead and the Abergavenny Community Night Support Team (CNST) launched on September 1st 2020.
A typical 10pm – 7am shift might include: scheduled home visits and reassurance phone calls, receiving ad hoc phone calls for reassurance or assistance (which may then result in a home visit), and providing a Careline response. Duties include personal care, including continence management, pressure care, wellbeing checks, medication administration, reassurance and anxiety management, meeting palliative care needs, including family support at night.
In the first six months of its inception, the Community Night Support Team supported 1,365 scheduled visits, made 39 ‘on call’ visits and made 394 reassurance phone calls. This saw many hospital admissions avoided as well as earlier discharges from hospital. It’s also seen a reduction in the number of admissions to long term care placements and has supported palliative care plans so people could remain at home.
The real impact of the service has come from the people who have benefitted from the initiative. Mary has been receiving the support of the Community Night Support Team in Abergavenny and has said the care has been a lifeline. She commented: “I’ve been very lonely but with these girls coming here, this was a break for me. I enjoy their company, every night I was looking for their company. There’s some good people out there, these girls do a wonderful job.”
Speaking about the initiative, Cabinet Member for Safeguarding, Social Care and Health, Councillor Penny Jones said: “We have been able to see firsthand the impact this service has been able to make to the people who need support the most and I’m extremely proud of the ingenuity and determination of the team to make this initiative a reality. Keeping people at home and out of hospital is extremely important, especially while the pandemic is still part of our lives and this support has been able to do just that, while also helping to reduce loneliness and isolation. I commend everyone involved and wish them the best of luck in the final stages of the awards.”
Leader of Monmouthshire County Council, Councillor Richard John said: “This service is life changing for our residents who benefit from it. I’m delighted the team and the initiative have been recognised and have moved onto the final round of LGC awards. The team’s commitment to helping and supporting others is second to none and they are already winners in our eyes. We wish you all the best for the final stages.”
The submission to the LGC awards has included a video demonstrating the work carried out by the Community Night Support Team and how it’s helped people like Mary. The video can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/K5t6PWLnqJQ
All winners in the LGC awards will be announced at a ceremony on the 4th November 2021 in London. More information can be found here: https://awards.lgcplus.com/