Impact of our support Avoided state costs Providing Mrs Khan with practical £3,474 and emotional support saved the state money in two ways: We prevented social services from needing £2,514 to get involved earlier Outcome Prevented ambulance Our involvement and support call out and unnecessary hospital ensured Mrs Khan’s needs were admission identified sooner than would Assumption otherwise have been the case, Ambulance transfer preventing or reducing the need and inpatient hospital stay for social services to be involved in the early stages of the case. We assume that Mrs Khan would have required intensive home care for at least one week. Given Mrs Khan’s circumstances, we assume she would have received intensive support totalling 30 hours a week, at a 1 Mrs Khan cost to social services of £960 . We prevented Mrs Khan from needing an ambulance and hospital stay Given that Mrs Khan was unable to look after herself, it is likely that our support also avoided the cost of an ambulance transfer and hospital inpatient stay We agreed to do Mrs Khan’s shopping However, Mrs Khan continued to was assessed and sectioned by resulting from a serious injury or at short notice on the first day of telephone the service for support statutory services. illness. The cost of an ambulance 2 Mrs Khan, 63, referral and a volunteer was able to at short notice over the next few transfer is £180 per instance , contacted the deliver it to her. Our volunteer then days, and seemed to be increasingly The flexibility of our while the cost of an inpatient stay spent some time with Mrs Khan and distressed, leading to concerns for service ensured Mrs Khan (based on an average number of British Red Cross explained what support the British her wellbeing. We contacted social days in hospital) is £2,334. for urgent support Red Cross could offer, but she services to enquire whether Mrs received the support she with shopping as refused ongoing support. Khan was known to them and, at needed during a period Overall, the support we Mrs Khan phoned again the following the duty social worker’s request, the when she was becoming delivered to Mrs Khan £960 she had run out of day asking for help with housework, volunteer encouraged Mrs Khan to increasingly unwell. represents total avoided Outcome more shopping and transport to a refer herself for more support. Prevented initial food and was suffering Our role in keeping in touch with costs to the state of social services from an inflamed knee hospital appointment. When the A few days later, our volunteer visited £3,474. involvement volunteer arrived, an ambulance was Mrs Khan by arrangement and was social services and Mrs Khan’s Assumption which prevented her outside the house, and the crew unable to find her at home. We then daughter meant there was a quick 30 hours support suggested Mrs Khan might need to contacted her daughter and a short response when her mental capacity over the course of from getting to her was compromised, and we were 1 week be admitted to hospital. However, while later we were informed that 1. PSSRU (2011), Unit costs of health and local shops. she remained at home and phoned Mrs Khan had been found in town in able to greatly minimise the length social care 2011, The University of Kent the following day, again requesting her night clothes, confused and very of time that she was at risk from publications. immediate help with shopping and unwell. Her daughter was hugely her own actions as well as her 2. National Audit Office (2011), Transforming daughter’s anxiety. the NHS ambulance services: prescription collection. A volunteer grateful to have been alerted to her presentation to the House of Commons. provided the support and agreed a mother’s absence and was able to www.connectingforhealth.nhs.uk/ systemsandservices/pathways/news/ weekly programme of help with her. provide her with support while she fullreport.pdf. The unit cost for ambulance services ranges from £144 to £216, i.e. a mean unit cost for this is £180 per call. 8 9