IMPROVED health care for older people in Warrington was on the agenda when Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Trust hosted an “Older People’s Symposium.”
The trust, which delivers community health care in Warrington, Halton, St Helens and Wigan, were giving clinical staff a chance to share best practice on local services for older people, hear perspectives from different organisations and develop ideas and thinking for future service delivery.
Bridgewater’s chief executive, Dr Kate Fallon said: “Older people make up a large proportion of our patients. Bridgewater is committed to making sure they feel respected and are treated with dignity, care and compassion at all times.
“The objective of this event was to explore with our own staff and partners from other agencies how we can further improve the services we provide to our older patients. We also looked at how we can prevent unnecessary hospital stays for older people and how we can join up services in the community to make a real difference to people’s lives, addressing their health and wellbeing needs.”
Other speakers were from the British Red Cross, Age UK, The Campaign to End Loneliness and Oxfordshire Clinical Commissioning Group.
One of the highlights of the day saw four older people, who volunteer for Age UK, discussing with attendees the challenges people often face as they reach their seventies and eighties and how important it is for physical and mental health to avoid social isolation and loneliness.
Paul Chadwick, services co-ordinator for Age UK (Mid Mersey) who delivered a presentation on listening to older people said: “This event has been really beneficial because it has brought people together who work across a broad spectrum of services for older people covering different socio-economic areas.
“We have been able to look at examples of good practice and share expertise and knowledge and network with our fellow professionals.”
Pictured: some of the speakers at the event.
