24/7 Secondary Care Consultant Helpline

Helpline telephone number: 01245 513 938

A 24/7 helpline staffed by secondary care consultants was set up to support primary care staff in their decision-making regarding care home and frail elderly patients.

The aim is to help avoid distressing trips to the hospital.

What the helpline can help you with?

1. Treatment escalation and resuscitation decisions
2. Advice on appropriateness for acute hospital admission (bearing in mind the extreme pressure at present)
3. Advice and guidance on management of COVID in the community
4. Medical advice concerning a deteriorating patient with an acute or worsening medical condition
5. Support for complex decision making that would result in an admission avoidance to the acute Trust.

What they can’t help you with:

1. Referring you onto the acute Trust after conversing (i.e. Medical Registrar)
2. Visiting the patient in their care setting
3. Speaking to relatives or patients concerning the care
4. Offering the service to nursing staff on the ward directly. The discussion should come through the medical practitioner.

We also have a dedicated section on our website with various tools and resources to support elderly residents.