New North Manchester Intermediate Care Unit opens

New £5m North Manchester Intermediate Care Unit Opens

A new purpose-built 24-bed community Intermediate Care Unit situated in the grounds at North Manchester General Hospital opened on Saturday (18 November).

Known as Crumpsall Vale, the unit will support patient flow from the hospital and the community.

Initially there will be 16 residential beds and eight nursing beds, but this will increase to 16 nursing beds and eight residential beds. All rooms have their own bathroom with a shower.

The building has been constructed on an old overflow car park to the north of the hospital site. Construction company Carefoot started work on the building last year and all that remains to do now is complete the landscaping.

The unit becomes part of Pennine’s Community Assessment and Support Service (CASS), a new integrated service delivery model that aims to avoid admissions, reduce length of stay and improve patient and carer experiences by providing better access to the right intervention, at the right time, delivered by the right health or social care worker.

Professor Matt Makin, Medical Director at the North Manchester Care Organisation said: “This is a landmark investment by the Northern Care Alliance and its partners at North Manchester General Hospital and it shows our commitment to providing state of the art facilities to the people of North Manchester and beyond.

"By building this Unit, The Alliance and its partners have fully embraced the modern healthcare philosophy, and I am certain that Crumpsall Vale will provide a much needed service to the local population for many years to come.

"This is an excellent example of joint working, vision and investment across local health and social care organisations.”

The unit is low-rise in design and has a welcoming homely feel for patients, featuring a sunken communal garden, a patient gym and a mock apartment to help patients adjust to home life again. Crumpsall Vale has an open visiting policy and all referrals will be seen within 48 hours, Monday to Sunday, between 09.00am and 16.30pm.

Intermediate care is a service that is designed to rehabilitate people with input from a multi-disciplinary team of dedicated professionals. That team is led by Ward Manager Louise Lewis and is made up of nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, assistant practitioners, GPs, trainee nurse associates and podiatrists.

The main telephone number for Crumpsall Vale is 0161 625 8160. Out of hours only please call the orange nursing bay on 0161 625 8162. For referrals call the CASS single point of access team on 0161 667 3292/3.

The majority of patients who access intermediate care services are over 75 years of age and Crumpsall Vale will provide an enhanced service for community patients who require a period of rehabilitation. The Unit will also support patients who do not require, or no longer need, specialist acute hospital care and treatment, but who do still need support within a community setting. The unit will offer patients support in the transition period between illness and recovery.

The Crumpsall Vale unit is a joint partnership between The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs North Manchester General Hospital, and Manchester Health & Care Commissioning.