Isle social workers join care hub

SOCIAL workers have joined ambulance crews, mental health teams and district nurses at the Isle of Wight emergency care hub.
The Isle of Wight Council’s first response team — the first point of contact for adult social care referrals — has become the latest organisation to move into the hub, at St Mary’s Hospital, which is also home to Wightcare and patient transport services.

The hub was opened to enable health and social care service providers to work closely together, making it easier to provide the most appropriate response when people call for help.

Annette Domoney, group manager of the adult first response team, said: “We still all have the benefit of all the modern communication technology but that is now supported by the advantage of having face to face contact with other professionals who may need to be involved and who could be better placed to respond.

“As a small team of nine workers and two help-desk officers, we need to ensure our resources are targeted at those most in need.”

Isle of Wight NHS Trust chief executive Karen Baker said: “Closer working between health and social care will benefit Islanders by ensuring our services are joined up and Islanders get the right service at the right time and in the right place.”