Frailty and the introduction of a targeted service to better meet the needs of those living locally with frailty issues was high on the agenda of Townships 1 PCN Clinical Director and GP Dr Tom Holdsworth. Once CCG funding had been successfully secured, the challenge to recruit a clinical project lead was proving tricky and Tom was eventually convinced by a colleague that an Occupational Therapist, in the form of Julia Clifford, might be the answer. One year on from Julia’s appointment and following a formal evaluation of the service, both Tom and Julia join Ben to discuss all aspects of the transformative approach they are taking in Sheffield to support their frail populations. From Tom’s initial concerns about whether an OT could provide what was needed, to the service specification and what Julia can offer, working collaboratively with the other additional roles team, and the service evaluation findings, this week’s episode is another truly inspirational offering to round off the 2021 podcast series.

 

Introductions (26 secs)

The origins of ‘Townships 1’ PCN (38 secs)

How was the service first introduced? (58 secs)

Why a project focused on supporting frailty? (2 mins 57 secs)

The story behind recruiting an Occupational Therapist (OT) for the project role (3 mins 59 secs)

Preconceptions of what an OT could offer (4 mins 43 secs)

What attracted Julia to the role? (5 mins 8 secs)

Evaluating progress to date (5 mins 57 secs)

What are the most common scenarios and interventions? Where is Julia able to make the biggest impact? (8 mins 8 secs)

Alignment with the PCN’s ARRS strategy (9 mins 58 secs)

Making the most of the ARRS funding pot (10 mins 52 secs)

Formal service evaluation findings (12 mins 3 secs)

Are the practices feeling the impact? (13 mins 45 secs)

The risk of uncovering unmet need (14 mins 25 secs)

Continuing to progress amongst competing demands (14 mins 54 secs)

Working towards the anticipatory care specification (16 mins 46 secs)

Lessons learned from Julia’s perspective (18 mins 29 secs)

 

The full, published evaluation of the frailty project can be found here.

If you are interested in learning more, Tom and Julia are very happy to be contacted via their respective emails.