Encore Care Homes has launched a Rapid Response Team (RRT) which operates across Dorset and Hampshire 365 days a year to help older people who urgently require permanent or respite care.

A relative can call the RRT 24-hours a day, seven days a week, to arrange for one of the team’s clinical assessors to carry out a face-to-face or virtual assessment in a hospital or out in the community to discuss the best course of action.

The RRT can arrange an admission into one of Encore’s homes, where necessary, within 24-hours of the initial call, depending on the person’s care needs.

Through Encore’s partnership with University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, registered nurses George Jenescu and Sebastian Ouseph act as a single point of contact between the hospitals and the patient’s relatives. They work with the local hospitals’ discharge teams, social services, and local care commissioning groups to facilitate access to a wide range of independent, assisted, and care home living services for older people.

Jenescu said: “Our mission is to ensure the fastest response from the first point of contact, a robust and diligent assessment, and a safe and efficient admission into our homes. Our values are to exceed expectations throughout upholding the trust and confidence of the public in our services.”

Every person whom the RRT assesses will need to have a negative Covid test before being admitted into the care homes for the safety of the home’s existing residents, family members, and the team.