A pilot service that helps the elderly in Wisbech and Ely to be cared for at home has won a national award.

The community rapid response scheme, run by Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust has beaten off fierce competition to scoop the story of the month from publications 6Cs Live! and Nursing Times.

The service was chosen after the care given to a 95 year old Ely couple, who have been married for more than seventy years, were enabled to stay together at home thanks to the support from community matron Lucy Stewart.

Mandy Renton, chief nurse, Cambridgeshire Community Services NHS Trust, said: “Nothing is too much trouble for Lucy. She takes the time to listen and explains everything.

“A staggering 45 per cent of referrals were enabled to stay at home by the Rapid Response service where otherwise they would have been admitted to acute care.”

The Trust is the only organisation to have won the monthly award twice, having previously been recognised for its children’s community nursing service.

The year-long community rapid response scheme is for patients registered with GP practices in the Ely and Wisbech areas.

GPs, paramedics and other medical professionals can contact a senior nurse who will arrange for the most appropriate professional from the multi-disciplinary service to visit their patient at home.

They will then assess them to determine the care and support they need to recover – either at home or a short stay in a community hospital.

The service includes nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists social care managers, a consultant geriatrician, pharmacists, multi-skilled healthcare assistants and others.

Sam Sherrington, Head of Nursing and Midwifery Strategy at NHS England, said: “This heart-warming story shows an integrated team delivering the values and behaviours of compassion, especially when patients and families are anxious, vulnerable, and need our care and compassion the most. Respect and the promotion of dignity are at the centre of the care they need and which Lucy and her team so clearly provide.”