Integrated care scheme for older people will roll out across England

An integrated care scheme, piloted in Cornwall, which claims to have helped cut unplanned hospital admissions of older people by almost half, is set to be rolled out across England.

The charity Age UK is introducing its integrated care programme (known in Cornwall as the living well programme),1 which is designed to meet older people’s health and care needs better to give them more independence and take pressure off health and care services, in partnership with the local NHS.

The scheme is being extended over the next few months to eight new areas—Ashford and Canterbury; Blackburn with Darwen; East Lancashire; Guildford and Waverley; North Tyneside; Portsmouth; Redbridge, Barking and Havering; and Sheffield—to support 6500 people. …