Thousands helped by council response service

The Enhanced Response Service (ERS) – which helps people with non-emergency assistance – has responded to over 6,000 call outs since it started nearly four years ago.

The service – part of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Reablement Service – helps vulnerable people stay safe and, where possible, in their own homes during the pandemic.

Earlier this year the ERS started providing a service for Peterborough City from its Hereward Hall base. Responders help with referrals from the Peterborough Reablement Team, Adult Early Help, Transfer of Care, long term care teams and the ambulance service.

Reablement helps people to recover and regain their independence after leaving hospital or to recover from an illness or injury in their own home. The service has improved the recruitment of staff with award winning campaigns.

During this critical time the ERS team - who will respond at all times of the day and in all weathers 365 days a year - has also supported care homes when staff have had to self-isolate due to contracting coronavirus.

The ERS has supported people like Joyce McCall from Little Paxton, who called the ERS when she fell out of bed and couldn’t get up. “They were wonderful – so friendly and helpful. My son wasn’t able to help at the time, so they came instead. They took less than an hour to arrive – I can’t thank them enough.”

The service was set up in April 2017 and responds with non-emergency assistance. It reduces the number of unnecessary ambulance call outs, provides people with the support and confidence to live in their own homes and supports informal carers with the work they do.

In its first year of its operation (2017/2018) the ERS had just one day and night team based at Hinchingbrooke Hospital and dealt with 1,979 calls over the year.

The following year it had established a second team at Hereward Hall in March during the day and a night team based at Shire Hall in Cambridge and handled 4,236 calls.

In the year 2019/2020 the total number of calls responded to reached 6,096 – a 208 per cent increase from 2017.

The ERS links up with anyone who has a community alarm or lifeline installed in their home and provides:

assistance to get a person up from the floor following a fall

personal care needed in an urgent and unplanned circumstance, which is not part of a regular care package

reassurance following an incident at home

The ERS can also act as an alternative or additional responder when:

usual key holders are not available or non-contactable

a suitable person cannot be identified

the usual carer is unable to complete the care needed

Although it is not an emergency service, it offers a response similar to a good neighbour or family friend.

Before the ERS came into being, Telecare Call Centres would call out an ambulance if no informal carer could be contacted, meaning the Ambulance Service received a high number of calls which were not medical emergencies.

The ERS currently has 24 responders who attend calls, an assistant coordinator and 2 coordinators who line-manage the responders. Work is in hand to base an additional team at the Cambridge Professional Development Centre south of Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire County Council and Peterborough City Council have been focused over the last three years on transforming adult social care, placing the wellbeing and independence of residents at the heart of its approach. This has included helping more people stay in their own homes independently rather than needing social care packages.

This approach has included ERS, as well as technology to keep people safe and independent in their own homes.

Cllr Anna Bailey, Chair of Cambridgeshire County Council’s Adults Committee said: “The Enhanced Response Service is a vital part of our commitment to helping people to stay living in their own homes and independent for as long as possible as the population of older people in our communities continues to grow. Its responders are also providing crucial support during the pandemic to ease some of the pressures on the emergency services, who are doing a terrific job under very challenging circumstances.”

Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, Peterborough City Council’s Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Health and Public Health added: “I am delighted that this excellent service now serves Peterborough City. It will continue the good work achieved in Cambridgeshire to help local vulnerable residents and keep them safe in their homes during the pandemic.”