Lincolnshire: care home trusted assessor

In Lincolnshire, a number of delays were occurring while waiting for care homes to visit the acute hospital to carry out assessments. Lincolnshire chose to address this through the introduction of a care home trusted assessor role, which would not only enable assessments to be carried out more quickly, but would also help to develop relationships and trust across the system.


In September 2015 a pilot project was agreed for an assessor to be employed by the care home sector and located within the discharge hub at Lincoln County Hospital. Working in partnership with care homes and the hospital to find solutions to current challenges, the role was established to:

  • support and facilitate timely and safe discharges from hospital to care homes
  • undertake assessments and re-assessments on behalf of the care homes
  • ensure the discharge documentation was complete to accompany the resident on discharge
  • liaise with the care homes about the discharge arrangements to streamline processes
  • act as a point of contact when residents were admitted to hospital to monitor progress.

The people identified to undertake the role were fully independent, employed by the Lincolnshire Care Association. They have been given access to the bed management system and to the trust’s IT systems, and there is a strong focus on regular communications with care homes.

In April 2016, coverage was extended to all hospital sites in Lincolnshire and Peterborough and seven day working began in late 2017. Over the first full year, 439 referrals were made, 340 assessments completed and 304 discharges supported, leading to an estimated saving of 735 bed days.

For further information: Lincolnshire Care Home Trusted Assessor Project

Contact

Lynne Bucknell

County Manager

Adult Care and Community Wellbeing

Lincolnshire County Council

[email protected]