What are Care Coordinators?
Care coordinators provide extra time, capacity, and expertise to support patients in preparing for clinical conversations or in following up discussions with primary care professionals. They work closely with the GPs and other primary care colleagues within the primary care network (PCN) to identify and manage a caseload of identified patients, making sure that appropriate support is made available to them and their carers (if appropriate), and ensuring that their changing needs are addressed.
How Care Coordinators can help you...
- Prepares patients for conversations about their health and care
- Assesses and monitors health and care needs
- Takes a personalised approach, focusing on what matters to patients most, using personalised care support planning tools (PCSPs)
- Acts as the node of the GP surgery, being a single point of access for vulnerable patients with complex conditions
- Supports tackling health inequalities by proactively identifying areas of unmet need for practices and specific patients to work with or refer onwards
- Proactively identifies vulnerable or complex patients
- Can be practice or PCN based, which means they may work on wider priorities across several practices or at just one practice
Care coordinators also strengthen links between the PCN/practice and services involved in care e.g. care homes, ambulance services, prevention programmes. They save GPs and other professionals time by ensuring information about a patient is streamlined and easily accessible and helps practices and PCNs in multidisciplinary team working by connecting individuals and supporting MDT meetings.
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How Aylesbury Central PCN delivers Care Coordinators...
Our Care Coordinators plan ward round visits for care homes on a weekly basis and arrange MDTs. We are also lucky to be able to offer our patients who live in a care home the access to out of hours care, 24/7 365 days a week acute service with access to nurses and geriatricians.
Care Homes MDT
A care home multidisciplinary team (MDT) is a group of healthcare professionals who work together to provide care for residents of a care home. The team typically includes a range of professionals with different expertise, such as doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, and social workers.
The goal of an MDT is to provide coordinated and comprehensive care for residents, taking into account their physical, psychological, and social needs.
“The MDT is really helping with the medication provision for the residents. You are very responsive to requests and there is an improvement in the medication ordering and delivery. So thank you very much for what you are doing.”
Diagnostic Testing Support
Our Care Coordinators can help arrange diagnostic tests requested by your GP or other healthcare clinician, making it easier for patients to access the investigations they need.
Through our PCN team, we are able to provide a range of diagnostic services, including:
- Blood Tests
- Electrocardiograms (ECG) – to assess the electrical activity and rhythm of the heart
- FeNO Testing – to help assess airway inflammation associated with asthma
- Spirometry – to measure lung function and support the diagnosis and management of respiratory conditions
By offering these services locally, we can support faster diagnosis, improved monitoring of long-term conditions, and a more convenient experience for our patients.
Please note that diagnostic tests are arranged following assessment and referral by an appropriate healthcare professional.
Preparing for your Electrocardiogram (ECG)
There are some things you can do to help you prepare for an ECG (electrocardiogram), such as:
- wearing a top that’s easy to take on and off
- not putting body lotions, oils or talcum powder on your skin before the test
- not eating a heavy meal or having caffeine before
- Some people may also need to have their chest shaved and cleaned before the test.
Preparing for your FeNO test
Before your test you should avoid the following as these can affect results:
- Too much physical acitvity or exercise for at least an hour before the test
- smoking for at least an hour before the test
- foods such as green leafy vegetables and beetroot for at least three hours before the test
Please rebook your appointment if you have COVID-19 or flu.
More information can be found on the Asthma + Lung UK website: http://www.asthmaandlung.org.uk/symptoms-tests-treatments/tests/feno-test
Preparing for your spirometry appointment
Before the test:
- Please empty your bladder.
- Wear comfortable loose clothing
- Do not have a large meal 2 hours before the procedure
- Refrain from drinking alcohol 4 hours before the test.
- No vigorous exercise 30 minutes before the test.
- Please refrain from smoking on the day of the test.
YOU MUST BRING YOUR PRESCRIBED SALBUTAMOL INHALER to this appointment.
Salbutamol is a commonly used inhaler designed to open your airways. The effects last approximately four hours. Your spirometry testing may not be able to be completed if you fail to bring it with you.
If you are already prescribed inhalers please follow this advice;
4 to 6 hours before the test do not use the following inhalers:
- Salbutamol (Ventolin, Aerolin, Salamol)
- Terbutaline (Bricanyl)
- Ipratropium Bromide (Atrovent or Combivent)
8 hours before the test do not use the following inhalers:
- Salmeterol (Serevent)
- Formoterol fumerate (Oxis or Foradil)
- Formoterol and Budesonide (Symbicort)
- Salmeterol and Fluticasone (Seretide)
36 hours before the test do not use:
- Tiotropium (Spiriva)
- Aclidinium bromide
- Glycopyrronium bromide
- Glycopyrrolate and umeclidinium bromide