The future of care for 90,000 in Southampton could be revolutionised by the £130m Better Care project

Health bosses and council chiefs have teamed up to form Better Care Southampton, with the aim of providing better care for thousands of pensioners and people with long term health and mental health issues.

Under the scheme, which has been approved by the country's top ministers, one stop shops will be created in six areas of the city with a team based there to focus specifically on the needs of local residents.

It will mean that people who rely on the services currently available from a multitude of different agencies will now be able to get the care they need from just one place.

It's hoped that the new care system could also eliminate the kind of care failings that led to the death of vulnerable Harefield resident Jonathan Ray, or the “breakdown” in care before Sean Cruise's death at his Shirley home last year.

Jonathan Ray

Government ministers have approved the plans, which will see the city council and the Clinical Commissioning group (CCG) have joint control over £132m of existing NHS funds which will be re-routed and given to health and council bosses to spend on the new initiative every year.

The plan means that rather than having several different teams separately looking after their health, mental health, housing and rehabilitation needs, residents will soon be able to speak to one point of contact about all their different issues in order to get the treatment and help they need.

The Government has made £3.2bn of existing NHS funding available for councils and local health bodies to work together to provide “joined-up” care, but health chiefs say Southampton's plan is both more ambitious and further down the line than other schemes being considered elsewhere.

Better Care Southampton will target the 86,000 people suffering from long-term health and mental health issues in the city, many of whom are elderly people at greater risk of additional problems.

It will come into effect after April next year, and see six new “clusters” set up, bringing together various teams to look after six areas of the city.

They will be centred around GP surgeries, and while staff from the authorities involved will not work under one roof, they will work together - something that has not happened before.

Council health boss Dave Shields says the new plans could eventually see teams come together at one base, saying: “This is about taking services closer to where people live and keeping them in the community and out of hospital.

Cllr Dave Shields

“It's a big step that we are taking. The plan is to completely transform the way our most vulnerable residents are looked after.”

It is hoped the change will relieve pressure on hospitals, and provide more information, advice and support to carers looking after vulnerable people.

Final plans as to how exactly the annual funding will be spent are being drawn up, but the funding will be spent on staffing, overheads and other costs currently funded in the city by the NHS, as well as new costs such as setting up the new clusters and offering new and expanded services.

Dr Sue Robinson, Shirley GP and board lead for Better Care Southampton said: “This will be transformation on a scale we have never seen before.

“We will be looking at a much more person-centred way of treating people, focussing on the individual by bringing together all the services they use. The ultimate aim is to improve the health and wellbeing of some of our most vulnerable patients cutting out duplication which can cause frustration.”