Understanding Care Services: Intermediate Care

What Is Intermediate Care?

Intermediate care covers a range of short term care services including reablement. You can find out more about reablement by going to my article here. Intermediate care is short term support. It can last for a period of up to six weeks. It may, in certain circumstances, be extended beyond that six weeks’ period. Intermediate care is one part of an overall care package provided to you.

What Is the Purpose of Intermediate Care?

Intermediate care aims to keep you living in your home independently for as long as possible. By providing you with the right support you may be able to:

avoid having to go into residential accommodation

avoid having to be admitted to hospital,

be supported on discharge from hospital

recover more quickly from illness

Who Qualifies for Intermediate Care?

Intermediate care is an option for any adult who may benefit from it. An adult is anyone aged 18 or over. The aim of intermediate care is to help you to maintain, or regain, your independence to continue, or return to, living in your home. Therefore, you are likely to be offered intermediate care in the following circumstances.

To help you avoid admission to hospital. For example, you have a fall at home, with the right, timely support, it may be possible for you to avoid the need to be admitted into hospital

To support your discharge from hospital. If you have had a stay on an acute hospital ward you may need a little help to regain your confidence and skills to continue living independently at home. Intermediate care can allow this support to be provided in your home upon your discharge from hospital or in a rehabilitation home (sometimes known as bed-based accommodation) prior to your moving back into your home.

Before you move into long term residential care. Typically, intermediate care is offered as a stepping stone between hospital discharge and admission to long term residential care.

To support people who you have dementia or other mental health needs. In these circumstances, avoiding hospital admission in the first place is the ideal. If this is not possible, timely discharge should be the aim. Intermediate care may be available to support either of these goals.

End of life care. People who are being cared for at home during their last days may have the quality of their lives enhanced by some simple adaptations. This could involve, for example, helping carers learn different ways of doing things. In such circumstances, intermediate care may be available.

How Do You Get Intermediate Care?

In the ideal world, you would be automatically referred for intermediate care if ever you found yourself in one of circumstances outlined in the previous section. However, the world is not ideal and it may well be the case that you will need to prompt a health care professional to refer you to the intermediate care team. Suitable health care professionals to prompt might be your GP, a district nurse, the discharge team in a hospital, staff attending to you on an A&E ward, paramedics attending at your home or an out of hours GP. Alternatively you may refer yourself.

Once a referral has been made you will require an assessment from the intermediate care team. The contact details of Thanet’s intermediate care team are:

Westbrook Integrated Care Centre 
150 Canterbury Road 
Margate 
Kent
CT9 5DD

Telephone: 01843 254134

The East Kent Intermediate Care Team’s website address is: http://www.kentcht.nhs.uk/home/our-services/intermediate-care-east-kent/?entryid109=228837

What Is the Cost of Intermediate Care?

Intermediate care is free for up to six weeks. It may in certain circumstances be extended beyond this period.

What Does Intermediate Care Involve?

There are four types of intermediate care.

The first type is referred to as crisis response intermediate care. This is very short term care – usually for a period of up to 48 hours. A health care professional will make a referral to a crisis response team who can rapidly ensure that you receive an assessment and receive the support you need. The support can be provided in your home or in residential accommodation.

The second type of support available is called home-based intermediate care. So called for the simple reason that the support is provided in your home.

The third type is known as bed-based intermediate care. This involves support provided in a setting away from your home – for example in a residential home.

The final type is reablement. The approach underpinning reablement is aimed at helping you to live your life independently. Reablement workers are not charged with the responsibility of doing things for you; they are responsible for helping you become confident and competent in doing things for yourself. You can find out more about reablement by going to my article here.

Who Provides Intermediate Care Services?

There are many health and social work professionals who may be involved in supporting your intermediate care needs. These professionals include: doctors, nurses, occupational therapists, social workers and care and support workers.

Garry Costain is the Managing Director of Caremark Thanet, a domiciliary care provider with offices in Margate, Kent. Caremark Thanet provides home care services throughout the Isle of Thanet. Garry can be contacted on 01843 235910 or email garry.costain@caremark.co.uk. You can also visit Caremark Thanet's website at www.caremark.co.uk/thanet.