Organisations across Leeds are working together to help the public and health and care professionals understand that caring for people in their home is best for them. Carers Leeds are joining NHS organisations, Leeds City Council, community and voluntary organisations on this long term project and we’re pleased to be involved so that we can represent the voice of carers, working together to help keep people well at home.

There’s lots of evidence that shows unnecessarily long stays in hospital are bad for patients. This is due to the risk of unnecessary waiting, sleep deprivation, increased risk of falls and fractures and catching healthcare associated infections. All can cause an avoidable loss of muscle strength leading to greater physical dependency.

As a city we want health and care professionals to understand how they can work together with patients and their carers, to help people get home safe sooner, once they are medically fit to do so. It’s really important to help carers, patients and the wider public understand the risks associated with staying in a hospital longer than needed, whilst also ensuring carers have the right support in place to help you. It is important to actively support people in their usual home, especially those with a long-term condition to avoid unnecessary trips to hospital.

Carers Leeds will be working with a range of health and care professionals who provide help and support in the community to see how best to treat people at home before their condition gets worse. It is crucial for health and care professionals to involve carers as much as possible when providing support and give you an opportunity to be part of any conversations.

This is all part of a city-wide project called Home First. We will provide you with more updates in  future newsletters however we wanted you to know of this important work going on in the city.

We would welcome your thoughts on this and how it will affect carers across Leeds. We want everyone to understand the importance of our approach to get people home sooner from hospital and to keep well at home. For information or to give your views, please contact Leedsccg.comms@nhs.net. We look forward to hearing from you.