Community-based multidisciplinary drop-in clinic City Health Cluster Swansea

The City Cluster area of Swansea has high levels of deprivation, ethnic diversity and emergency inpatient admissions. Primary care services, which are already stretched to capacity and experiencing funding shortages, need to adapt to meet the changing needs of this diverse and growing population.

This project aimed to develop a preventive approach to improving health and wellbeing by using integrated multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) in targeted community settings to alleviate pressure on GP services, enabling better levels of self-care and signposting patients to the most appropriate services to meet their needs.

A weekly MDT drop-in clinic service, delivered by a pharmacist, advanced paramedic and local area coordinators, was made available to 155 residents within two City Cluster retirement complexes. During delivery, the project focus shifted from medical to social interventions, and successful initiatives such as a weekly quiz, posters promoting the service and knocking on doors were implemented to improve engagement, wellbeing and social interaction.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 prevented the project from being completed and it was not possible to demonstrate an overall reduction in how often residents contacted GP practices and the wider NHS. However, the MDT pharmacist helped many patients at the point of contact who would have otherwise gone to their GP or practice nurse, hospital admissions fell slightly, and concentrating resources and clinical time on high-usage patients was identified as a valuable cost- and resource-saving strategy.

Despite its successes, there are currently no plans to continue the project due potential issues with equity of provision, funding and staffing. However, parts of this innovative service delivery model are being replicated in the recently established Cluster Healthy Living Hub.

Contact information

For more information about this project, please contact Andrew Bradshaw, Business Manager, City Health Cluster.