STCC Team wins NHS Award

On Monday 12th December, NHS Devon held their Exceptional People Awards event in Exeter and the Short-Term Care Centre at The William and Patricia Venton Centre won the “One Devon Team Award” for outstanding collaboration between Livewell Southwest and Age UK Plymouth.

"The feedback received at the event was incredibly positive," said Age UK Plymouth CEO, David Wood. "Of the 202 patients that have now been discharged, 106 have returned home with no care needs, which is an absolutely fantastic testament to the successful collaboration, hard work and passion from everyone involved.

"I really want to thank everyone who has played an important role in making the Short-Term Care Centre such an essential component of the charity and an outstanding service for the people of Plymouth. In particular I want to thank the catering, discharge, housekeeping and operations teams for their outstanding contributions and for representing the charity so incredibly well."

"Massive congratulations and thanks to everyone involved from all the Trustees," said Benny Wright, Chair of Trustees for Age UK Plymouth. "This is a well-deserved award that goes just a small way to reflect the hugely positive impact this work is having not just on those coming through the STCC, but more widely across Plymouth, as the STCC and discharge team play a vital role in reducing pressures at Derriford and Mount Gould."

The newly refurbished short term care centre, which is being run by Livewell Southwest and Age UK Plymouth, has 24 en-suite bedrooms to provide a safe place for patients to stay after they have been in hospital.

This could be for up to six weeks, with support from therapists and assistive technology and opportunities to engage in social activities in the rest of the building. The aim is that when people leave the centre they are feeling much better and ready to go home and live as independently as possible.

The Council invested £823,410 of capital funding into the refurbishment and lease part of the building from Age UK Plymouth who will continue to use the rest of the building to run their other services, including a Day Centre. Age UK Plymouth invested £310,000 in the development of the short term care centre.

When the STCC launched Michelle Thomas, Chief Executive Officer at Livewell Southwest, said: “This is fantastic news for Plymouth residents and a wonderful example of local health and care organisations working in partnership to find new and improved ways of caring for people in our communities.

“This new service not only provides a calm and caring setting for people who are not yet well enough to return to their homes, it also helps to create more space in our busy acute hospital for those with the most urgent and critical needs, as well as the entire Plymouth health and care system.

“I’m delighted this initiative will give people and their families/carers more time to increase their confidence in their strengths and capability to live their best possible life in their own homes. The Short Term Care Centre is a wonderful step forward for the city and I’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone involved.”