Housing-with-care services deliver big NHS savings

Southampton City Council has revealed that housing-with-care schemes in the city are responsible for saving the NHS £330,000 per year.

The report, released by the council and the Housing Learning and Improvement Network, titled Identifying the health care system benefits of housing with care, highlights a number of societal and economic benefits linked with housing with care.

Housing with care, sometimes know as ‘extra care’, is designed to enable people with an assessed care need to live independently in their homes for longer, while providing access to 24/7 support services when they need it. It reduces the use of health services and associated resources such as GP and community nursing visits as well as improves hospital discharge rates. In Southampton it has provided significant NHS cost savings to the tune of more than £300,000 per year.

Lorna Fielker, cabinet member for Adult Care, commented: “Our residents tell us that they want to continue living independently at home for as long as possible, or would like to access alternative options like Housing with Care, rather than go into a residential care home. Our adult care vision for Southampton reflects this and the report supports that. Following the success of Erskine Court in encouraging residents to remain independent, we look forward to welcoming residents to Potters Court in 2020."

Southampton is home to five existing schemes, plus Potters Court, a new development currently being built in Millbrook, which will bring the total number of housing-with-care homes in the city to almost 270 by autumn 2020.