A NUMBER of sites in the North-East have been chosen to take the lead in transforming care for patients.

Gateshead and Sunderland are among 29 groups of nurses, doctors and other health and social care staff from across the country who have been given the go-ahead to redesign care in their areas.

Drawing on a new £200 million transformation fund the ‘vanguard’ projects will develop local health and care services to keep people well and bring home care, mental health and community nursing, GP services and hospitals together for the first time since 1948.

In Sunderland, this means elderly patients will be encouraged to recover in their own homes, or be placed in supported accommodation including care homes if that better suits their needs.

Instead of ending up in hospital, patients will now have person-centred, co-ordinated care, and will have more input into the care that they receive.

Staff will work as part of a multi-disciplinary team, focussing on more pro-active, patient-centred care and prevention.

In Gateshead, GPs and the local council are proposing to work together to enhance health within care homes.

This could mean that an elderly patient who has been in and out of hospitals will be visited by a multi-disciplinary team, who will be able to put in place a care plan which will reduce the need for hospital admission.