News and events

Community Services Week (22 to 29 September) is about shining a light on the vital role that community services, like the ones we provide, play in helping people to live healthier lives, closer to home. 

Our Chief Executive Elliot Howard-Jones reflects on the extraordinary care our teams deliver every day, often with little to no fanfare or recognition – and why he believes a sea change in healthcare delivery is already underway.

Margaret’s story

When 76-year-old Margaret* woke one winter morning struggling to breathe, she did what many of us would do — she called 999. Living alone with COPD, her symptoms had worsened despite antibiotics from her GP.

An ambulance crew quickly arrived, but instead of taking her to hospital, one of the paramedics contacted our Urgent Care Coordination Hub.

Within minutes, Margaret was connected to an experienced GP, who prescribed stronger antibiotics and steroids. Remote monitoring equipment was couriered to her home so her oxygen levels and breathing could be closely observed. When her chest infection led to a dangerous dip in sodium levels, our GP and pharmacists swiftly adjusted her medication and monitored her until she stabilised.

The result? Margaret avoided a five-day hospital stay, recovered more comfortably at home, and freed up an ambulance for another patient in need.

This is just one example of how our trust, like many other community  trusts across the country, is transforming care by bringing treatment closer to where people live.

Who are we?

We are the principal provider of community-based healthcare for more than 1.2 million people in Hertfordshire, with services extending into Bedfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, Norfolk, and Suffolk. We deliver a wide range of services (more than 50 in total), including school nursing, specialist dental and speech services, community nursing, rehabilitation, and palliative care.

We employ around 2,770 dedicated staff  who deliver care in people’s homes, local clinics, schools, and community hospitals every day.

We support people at every stage of life, from birth to later life, working closely with the NHS, social care, education, charities, and local government.

Leading the way in the future of the NHS

In June, the government launched its ’10 Year Health Plan for England: Fit for the Future’, setting out three radical shifts to create a new model of care:

• From hospital to community
• From analogue to digital
• From treatment to prevention

At HCT, we are already ahead of the curve.

Hospital to community: Through our Hospital at Home service, we manage 205 beds in people's homes, providing IV antibiotics, fluids, and medication at home, helping people recover quicker and avoiding unnecessary hospital stays. It is the top-performing service in the East of England and among the best nationally.

Analogue to digital: From remote monitoring of heart failure patients to advanced digital tools supporting IV therapies at home, we are using technology to enable safer, faster, and more efficient care.

Treatment to prevention: We empower individuals to take charge of their health, with proactive, preventative care designed to stop symptoms from worsening and improve quality of life.

As a community services trust, we are ahead. Our key stakeholders and partners know what we do, our patients and their carers value the dedication and commitment of our staff, and our staff are committed to delivering outstanding care and support.

However, we want to ensure that our national and strategic leaders fully appreciate the power and importance of our services, and the public recognises how community care can transform their experience. We are optimistic that momentum is building in our favour and change is on the horizon.

Gaining recognition

Our work is increasingly being recognised nationally. We have been shortlisted for multiple HSJ Awards, including Clinical Leader of the Year for our Medical Director.

We have featured across major media outlets, such as Channel 5 News, recently spotlighting our Hospital at Home service, and in trade and sector press. Our Hospital at Home service was introduced within months in 2021 and now supports up to 250 patients at a time, carrying out around 34,000 home visits per month. It has attracted national and global interest including delegations from Singapore and Germany who have visited to see how it works.

We know there is still a lot of work to do to change the mindset about NHS services across the spectrum and really recognise the power of community services, not just with national decision-makers, but with the public. However, one day, we could find a TV drama like Casualty is no longer based in a hospital, but features services delivered in people’s homes.

Looking ahead

With a growing, ageing population and more complex care needs, demand on hospitals will only intensify and rise unless more treatment is delivered in the community, closer to home. We are helping to meet this challenge by:

• Expanding services like Hospital at Home and Urgent Community Response
• Harnessing digital tools to improve care and efficiency
• Tackling health inequalities using data-driven approaches
• Recruiting, developing, and retaining the best staff.

Community health services are the future of the NHS and we are proud to be leading the way.

*Name has been changed to protect patient confidentiality.