Unmet Needs Project – East of England Ambulance Service
Posted on: November 3, 2022
As part of a new pilot which has been funded by NHS Charities Together, East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust (EEAST) is launching a new service which aims to capture our patients who fall under the radar when it comes to non-medical unmet needs. Over the course of a shift our crews visit many patients and are in a prime position to observe when they are struggling. This could be for example with loneliness or support to remain independent.
Our crews do their best to try to address these issues where they can but are often left wishing they could have done more, especially whilst the service is under extreme pressure.
The Unmet Needs Project aims to plug this gap by offering referrals to local authorities, charities and outreach groups across our Trust’s regions. Examples of where we are looking to help are (but not limited to) carer support, housing, dementia, wellbeing, addiction recovery, budgeting, poverty, energy bills, bereavement support etc. However, whilst we have a good idea of what unmet needs our patients experience, we recognise that unmet needs is a vast area.
Crews will be able to complete a simple referral form which will be picked up by the unmet needs team, they in turn will contact the patient or family member to signpost them to a service who will be able to support.
We are extending our current Directory of Services (DOS) and we are keen to include as many local projects as we can to better support our patients. EEAST covers Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire. We believe as a regional player we can tap into the local resources to make a difference.
We want to keep our patients safe, well and at home and we will do anything we can to keep them that way. By working together, we can all make a difference.
If you have any further questions or useful contact information, we would like to hear from you and if you wish to be included in our Directory of Service (DOS) please email: unmetneeds@eastamb.nhs.uk
PLEASE NOTE THAT REFERRALS ARE VIA OUR CREWS ONLY. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE EMAIL ADDRESS FOR REFERRALS.
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