Personalised Care Team – 2024 Highlights

Our personalised care team is dedicated to supporting patients through a range of tailored sessions and events. From specialist support groups to community coffee mornings, these initiatives help patients connect, access vital resources, and receive guidance for their health and wellbeing.

Support for Neurodiverse Families
On 21st November, we hosted an evening support session for parents with children on the neurodevelopmental pathway. With long wait times for autism and ADHD assessments, we aimed to provide face-to-face guidance and connections with local services, including SENDIAS and Reaching Families.

Diabetic Support Sessions
Our health and wellbeing coach, Lucy, runs regular sessions for pre-diabetic patients, offering education on diet and lifestyle changes to reduce diabetes risk.

Loneliness & Isolation Support
In October/November, our Social Prescribing team piloted evening sessions for isolated patients, featuring art, board games, and talks from local groups like Befriended and U3A. Feedback is shaping future sessions.

Community Coffee Mornings
We hosted coffee mornings for dementia patients (26th July), unpaid carers (15th March), prostate cancer patients (28th November), and Macmillan Cancer Awareness (27th September), offering support, expert talks, and connection opportunities.

Cancer Awareness
Our Cancer Coordinator, Barbara, updates reception boards monthly with information and resources aligned with national awareness campaigns.

Supporting Patients with Online Booking
The team has run three support sessions across our sites to help patients navigate the online booking system, inviting 659 patients aged 80-85 via text message. A total of 144 patients attended: 51 in Hassocks, 71 in Hurst, and 22 in Ditchling, where we hired a village hall for space.

Patients received a prompt sheet to take home, with many practicing on their own devices during the session. We also introduced a quiet room option for those needing 1-2-1 support, following feedback from the first session.

The sessions were well received, with comments such as “This has been excellent,” “It feels less scary now,” and “This printout is really helpful.” Many appreciated the reassurance that phone and in-person options remain available, and that medical urgency decisions are still made by doctors.

We’re proud of our personalised care team for bringing people together, offering support when it’s needed most, and making a real difference in our community.