CC4C and the 'triple aim for populations'
In Connecting Care for Children (CC4C) we seek to integrate the care of child health across the boundaries of organisations. The CC4C initiative aligns with the ‘triple aim for populations’ – a forward-thinking view from the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) of how to take care of populations as well as individuals. As healthcare professionals we need to:
- look after the individual experience and outcomes of our patients, but also
- take care of the health of the whole population within our care and
- strive to reduce the cost of healthcare in order to benefit the whole of the community.
CC4C has an enhanced individual focus thanks to the integrated way that the care follows the patient: paediatricians hold clinics in GP practices nearer to patients’ homes (specialist outreach) and an open dialogue exists between families, GPs, paediatricians and other health professionals that breaks down the traditional barriers between hospital and primary care. With an increased focus on delivering the care that families and children want, with greater flexibility of access, at CC4C we try to provide the best possible care to the individuals in our community.
The whole community benefits from CC4C paediatricians supporting primary care doctors in specialist outreach. GPs are able to manage more and complex paediatric problems in the community, with specialist involvement, and are able to discuss cases of concern with paediatricians and other members of the multidisciplinary team (MDT) in each hub’s dedicated children’s MDT meeting. This strong educational focus means that the children who benefit from CC4C are not only the children who come to hospital or children’s outpatients, but all those cared for by the GP practices involved.
A local GP involved in the hub clinics reflected on the experience of collaborating with paediatricians in this format: "The GPs have much more confidence about relationships that have been built with the paediatric service and there has been a good exchange of information in person, by email and by phone.”
The ‘Fix Freddie!’ puppet show
With a greater flexibility and community delivery of specialist paediatric care, at CC4C we are able to reduce the number of hospital outpatient appointments required by the children in the community we serve and thus reduce the cost of healthcare for everyone. With initiatives such as the ‘Fix Freddie!’ puppet show, children and families are part of education projects to help reduce the usage of A&E services and increase the confidence in attending GPs, which further helps to reduce the cost of healthcare for all.
A mum who met paediatricians with her GP in the practice told us: “Seeing the GP and also having two paediatricians attending at the same time has changed the way I will go and see my GP in the future. I think that I will no longer run straight to the hospital.”
Reference: IHI triple aim for populations
