NHS reshapes community health services to improve access to the right care

This change comes as part of a major enhancement to services aimed at reducing hospital admissions and giving people faster, more joined-up support closer to home.

The services, delivered by HCRG Care Group across Wiltshire on behalf of the NHS, are designed to make them simpler to understand, easier to access, and better able to prevent serious health problems before they develop.

Health services across the region, particularly urgent and emergency care, are already under significant pressure. The cost of inpatient, outpatient and A&E care currently stands at £340 million per year and is projected to rise to £410 million by 2040*.

This challenge is compounded by NHS England data** showing that people living in the most deprived areas of England are nearly three times more likely to be admitted to hospital for conditions that could potentially have been treated or managed earlier in the community.

The changes have been developed with input from local people over the past year, including patients, carers, voluntary organisations, local authorities and NHS partners. One key frustration raised was that many people were unsure what community health services existed or how to access them, sometimes leading them to present at A&E instead.

These changes aim to remove these barriers through a new way of organising community services that supports NHS priorities to improve access, reduce health inequalities and deliver more care closer to home.

From 1 April, anyone in the Wiltshire area can contact community health services through a single point of contact - by phone on 0300 247 0200, online, or in writing - without needing to go through a GP or hospital first.

In addition, as a significant first, people will now also be able to ask for help from community health services without the need to speak to a GP first, and instead be assessed and connected to the right level of support by a new team of Community Health Navigators, from self-help resources through to specialist care. 

Neighbourhood care teams of multidisciplinary groups of health, therapy and wellbeing professionals are also being introduced to work together with patients to consider all aspects of physical health and mental wellbeing, to offer more tailored care.

By sharing information and working from the same systems, this joined-up approach means teams can step in earlier, manage ongoing conditions proactively and prevent problems from escalating. The goal is to support people to live well and independently for longer - in turn, to reduce avoidable hospital admissions and relieve pressure on the wider NHS.

Commenting on the developments, Val Scrase, Regional Director - Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, HCRG Care Group, said: 

"Bringing community health services together across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire in 2025 was an important step forward in helping people stay well for longer and enabling more care to be delivered safely in the community.

"This next phase will build on that strong foundation. It strengthens our ability to help people stay healthy and live well, while making care easier to access and better to experience. It also supports the NHS’s ambition to move more care closer to home and prevent ill health, while easing the pressure.

"We’ve reached this point thanks to the invaluable support of our local communities, the voluntary sector and our NHS and local authority partners. By working together, we’re creating a community health service that’s designed around people’s lives and capable of supporting healthier communities for years to come."

*Source: Transforming community-based care in Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire, October 2024

**Source: 2.3.i Unplanned hospitalisation for chronic ambulatory care sensitive conditions, NHS Outcomes Framework Indicators, April 2024