Who we are
The Urgent Care Team is a nurse led service in west Kent, available 24 hours a day, every day of the year.
What we do
We provide a crisis response nursing service with a two hour, four hour or 24 hour response to referrals. Telephone triage determines the priority of visits. The service aims to: avoid unnecessary hospital admissions; support hospital discharges; and provide unscheduled nursing care out of hours, including management for patients at the end of their life.
The team comprises a Team Lead Coordinator, a Quality Lead, Registered Nurses, Assistant Practitioners, and Health Care Assistants.
We work closely with other KCHFT community services, including the West Kent Urgent Care Home Treatment Service, Community Rehabilitation Team Therapists, Community Nursing Teams, Complex Care Nurses and Health and Social Care Coordinators.
We work closely with colleagues from the acute trust (Therapy Assisted Discharge Service) and Kent Enablement at Home (social services) to ensure that patients are receiving the right care at the right time from the most appropriate service provider, enabling them to remain in their own homes safely.
Clinical interventions include: IV Therapy, End of Life Care, symptom management, wound care, pressure ulcer management bladder and bowel care. The team can also facilitate admission to one of our community hospitals for a patient requiring rehabilitation.
As a short-term service, we provide care for a maximum of seven days. However, on discharge from the service, patients will be referred on for long-term support, as required via health, social and voluntary sectors.