Citizen Advisors - Turning Point

Turning Point Connected Care Report 13
2. Connected Care Navigators
Connected Care is Turning Point’s model for community led commissioning; one
that integrates health, housing and social care. Connected Care works with
communities and commissioners to bring about solutions to health and social
care problems. The model of co-production used narrows the gap between
commissioner’s priorities and the community and delivers a joined up approach
to health, housing and social care.
The Connected Care project in Hartlepool was the first national pilot of
Connected Care and began in 2006. Community researchers in Owton ward,
one of the town’s most disadvantaged areas, conducted a Connected Care audit
to determine the needs and aspirations of local residents and their views on
health and social care services. The audit identified that people require better
information and more continuity and coordination in services. It also revealed
that it is often the small things that have big impacts on people’s lives, such as
the ability to change a light bulb, and that service responses should not overlook
low-level needs. It found that the local workforce needs to be responsive,
flexible and well trained, and to treat people holistically, individually and with
respect and dignity.
In response to these findings and drawing upon the recommendations made in
the Ippr report, a Connected Care service was set up in Owton, comprising of a
team of navigators, a virtual complex care team and low level support services,
delivered through a social enterprise managed by the local community and
supported by a transformational coordinator to oversee the project. In December
2007, three navigators took up their post in Owton working to improve access to
services in the local area. The navigators are local people who are responsible
for ensuring that care remains appropriate to the individual’s changing needs
and addressing unmet needs. The navigator role in Hartlepool is defined as:
“Care navigators, working on an outreach basis and probably recruited from
among local residents, to improve access, promote early interventions, support
choice, ensure a holistic approach, and integrate with universal and long term
support where necessary.”
The central purpose of the Connected Care navigator is to help people access
services. It is their job to coordinate the provision of support and services
around an individual and to help people navigate through the health, social care
and housing systems. Moreover, they have a crucial role in holding people in the
system once they have already started to access services, so that they do not
drop out or fall between services. The navigators provide a single point of
access, a single assessment process and a streamlined referral process. They
help people to access services who would otherwise, not know where to go.
Feedback from clients (who have mostly been under the age of 60) has
highlighted that the informal relationship with the navigators and the continuity of
the support that they provide is priceless. The success of the navigators is
attributed to the fact that they are recognised as caring, non-judgemental and
trustworthy members of the community that can provide assistance, though non-