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Health and social care is beginning to move towards genuine integration in Manchester, but there is still a long way for the devolved systems to go, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) has said.
Publishing one of 20 targeted reviews of local authority areas, looking specifically at how people move through the health and social care system, the CQC cited two examples of community pharmacy playing its part in the newly devolved health and social care system in Manchester.
The CQC found that an integrated Community Assessment and Support Service, based in the north of the city, had been effective in reducing emergency admissions partly by using pharmacy and diagnostics in the community to meet people’s needs.
The service is now set to be rolled out across the city.
And although the CQC said that overall, preventative programmes were not yet reducing the number of older people attending A&E in Manchester, it highlighted a home-care intermediate pathway which sees a multidisciplinary team, including pharmacy, working to keep older people out of hospital.
Going independent
The Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, made up of the 37 NHS organisations and councils in the city region, took control of Manchester’s £6bn health and social care budget in April 2016.
Steve Field, the CQC’s chief inspector of primary care services, said Manchester’s political and healthcare leaders “have a strong understanding of the challenges posed by poor population health, and poor health and care outcomes”, but he said “there is a lot to do”.
“Overall we could see there were areas of good practice in parts of the system,” he said.
“Staff that we met throughout the review were enthusiastic and believe that it is a force for positive change.”
