Care Homes | North Shropshire PCN

What is Enhanced Health in Care Homes?

Enhanced Health in Care Homes is a way of making sure people who live in care homes receive regular, proactive healthcare, delivered by a consistent team of professionals who work closely with care home staff.

GP practices across North Shropshire PCN work together with care home staff, PCN pharmacists and dieticians, community health services and other health professionals as one team. This helps to identify health concerns early, improve long-term condition management, plan care around what matters to the patient, and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

Each care home is supported by a named GP and a wider healthcare team who meet regularly with care home staff. Together, they help residents stay as well and independent as possible, and make sure the right support is in place if someone’s health changes.

What we offer

Residents living in care homes aligned to North Shropshire PCN benefit from a coordinated approach to healthcare, which includes the following:

Personalised Care and Support Plans

Each resident is supported to have a personalised care and support plan. This brings together health and care information and focuses on what is important to the person, their goals, preferences and wishes. Plans are reviewed and updated as needs change.

Annual Structured Medication Reviews

Residents receive a structured medication review with a PCN clinical pharmacist. This helps to ensure that:

Medicines remain safe and effective
Unnecessary medications are reduced where appropriate
Side effects and interactions are identified
Residents and care home staff are supported with medication understanding

Training and Support for Care Home Staff

Care home staff are offered access to training, advice and support from health professionals. This helps staff to:

Recognise early signs of deterioration
Improve confidence in managing health conditions
Strengthen working relationships with healthcare teams
Deliver safe, high-quality care

Annual Birth Month Reviews

Residents are offered a planned annual health review, usually around their birth month. This provides an opportunity to:

Review overall health and wellbeing
Discuss any changes in needs
Update care and support plans
Plan ahead to prevent avoidable health issues

Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) Approach

Care homes are supported by a multi-disciplinary team, bringing together professionals from different services. This team approach allows:

Better coordination of care
Faster access to specialist advice
Shared decision-making with care home staff
A proactive approach to residents’ changing needs

Working together in North Shropshire

Enhanced Health in Care Homes is built on partnership working between care homes, GP practices and community health services. By working together, we aim to provide care that is proactive, personalised and delivered as close to home as possible.

Contact us

If you are a care home, resident or family member and would like more information about Enhanced Health in Care Homes in North Shropshire, please contact us via email stw.pcn.carehometeam@nhs.net.

 Find out more information in our Professional Knowledge Zone…