BRAUNSTONE BLUES TEAM HELPS TACKLE COMMUNITY ISSUES

Issued on behalf of Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group

People in Braunstone are benefitting from a joint scheme, which aims to help them make the right decision about choosing the most appropriate service in the city if they have a problem or become unwell.

The aim of the partnership project, called the Braunstone Blues is to reduce the number of unnecessary emergency calls to blue light services such as the ambulance, fire and police services.

Research collected from each of the emergency services shows that Braunstone generates the highest amount of emergency calls for Leicestershire Fire and Rescue, Leicestershire Police and East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) compared to other areas of the city and to the wider region.

When a patient, living in Braunstone, visits their GP with an issue about their health or social care needs, the team provide advice tailored to the individual’s needs as well as provide information about other organisations that may be able to help them.

This would be most suitable for people living with poor health and wellbeing, which includes loneliness, anxiety, depression and antisocial behaviour. Once identified by a GP and it becomes apparent that they made need some extra support in their community, their GP is able to refer them for a 30-minute free home visit from the most appropriate members of the Braunstone Blues.

The team also provide advice and support on child safety, fire safety, home safety, vehicle security or home security. Residents in Braunstone are also able to refer themselves to the service by calling or emailing the team directly.

Braunstone Blues was set up as a two-year project and is made up of five staff from the fire, police, ambulance service, social care and nursing services.

Braunstone area GPs who are members of Leicester City Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and other partners, including pharmacies, Leicester City Council, housing, care homes, schools and community groups as well as local voluntary groups are now backing the project to ensure the community has the support it needs to stay safe and well and reduce the number of avoidable calls to 999.

Dr Ahmed Nana, GP at Hockley Farm Surgery, who is involved with the project, said: “A similar scheme has seen encouraging results in areas such as Manchester and Margate, where communities have been educated about which service to call if they feel unwell or have had an accident but their condition is not actually a life-threatening emergency.

“Locally residents have really engaged with the project and are proactive at coming up with ideas on how to share the messages with their family and friends. What we ideally would like to see is GPs in the area, when they see a patient, to give them some information about the Braunstone Blues scheme and how the service can support them.”

The overall results of the scheme will be monitored at the end of the project as part of the evaluation to gauge its success.

Assistant Chief Constable for Leicestershire Police Phil Kay, said: “Our aim is to reduce the demand placed on emergency services in Braunstone, by working with partners and residents to deliver a healthier, safer and more secure community. We do this by educating and directing residents to appropriate services via a home visit service and delivering appropriate campaigns, to reduce the number of emergency calls in the area.”

Shelley Jackson, paramedic with East Midlands Ambulance Service, said: “We continue to work closely with GP surgeries which provide care for patients in Braunstone and have spent time in GP reception areas engaging with service users and booking our home visits. We also accept referrals from GPs via phone or email.”

If residents in the Braunstone area would like to refer themselves to the service they can call 07800 709 802 and leave a voicemail to book a home visit or email braunstone.blues@lfrs.org.

For more information, visit the Braunstone Blues information pages at www.braunstoneblues.org. You can also follow what the team are up to on their twitter page at www.twitter.com/braunstoneblues.

ENDS

Download a PDF version here. 

Notes to editors:

  1. To find out more about Braunstone Blues please contact Braunstone Blues on 07800 709 802 or blues@lfrs.org
  2. You can follow Braunstone Blues on social media:
    Facebook: @braunstoneblues
    Twitter: @braunstoneblues
    Instagram: braunstoneblues

About the Braunstone Blues

In May 2015 Braunstone Blues was established.  This is a dedicated team consisting of a Watch Manager and a Community Safety Advisor from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service; Police Constable, and Police Community Support Officer, from Leicestershire Police; and a Paramedic from East Midlands Ambulance Service. The team has since extended to a second Paramedic and an Occupational Therapist.

999 demand data from all three services was analysed and it was found that the small geographical area of Braunstone produced close to 4,600 999 calls every year. This was roughly a 56% EMAS, 40% Police, and 4% Fire. The population of the area was 15,700 people living in 6,000 homes. This was shown to be the highest area of demand in all of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

The team work with partners and residents of Braunstone to deliver a healthier, safer and more secure community by educating and directing residents to appropriate services via a home visit service and delivering appropriate campaigns, to reduce the number of emergency calls in the area.

There are four main streams of work for Braunstone Blues; Home Visits, Community Events, working with high demand users and running Life Skills sessions in the community. 

Contact:
Jessica Essex
Braunstone Blues Communications Officer
07966 111 273
jessica.essex@lfrs.org

 

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