A new portal has gone live making it easier for health and care professionals to provide residents with the support they need.
Aimed at the NHS, private sector care, emergency services and the third sector, the Adult Social Care Online Portal replaces telephone calls, face-to-face meetings and visits.
It will enable professionals to submit online requests directly to Stoke-on-Trent City Council’s Adult Social Care services without the need to call up.
Each referral made will go straight into the social care system for the correct department to pick up and take forward, making it a quicker and easier way to send referrals.
As well as boosting the referral process for health and social care professionals by removing the need for paperwork, it will increase information accuracy, improve and encourage collaborative working and enhance data security.
Councillor Duncan Walker, cabinet member for adult services, said: “This portal is an important tool for professionals in the health and care sector and great news for residents too.
“It is the first in a series of online portals that will be introduced to make it easier and quicker to get people the care and support they need and emphasises a caring and kind approach to health and wellbeing.”
The portal is one of the first initiatives to be rolled out as part of a citywide campaign to help adults live independently for longer.
Called Live Life to the Max, the aim is to signpost residents to helpful digital technology, telecare facilities, direct payments, a bank of care professionals, the city’s network of community lounges and an app library that supports fitness, mental health and wellbeing.
The campaign has been launched by a new strategic partnership between Stoke-on-Trent City Council, stakeholders in the health, social care and wellbeing sector and the private and third sectors.
To help capture peoples’ attention, the campaign introduces a series of characters, all named Max, who lead by example by pointing people to tools apps facilities and services.
The colourful characters, who represent all sections of the community, will appear in a sustained social media campaign and on posters and digital sites in public areas and billboards across the city.
A Public Self-Assessment portal is also due to be launched in the coming months.
The Adult Social Care Online Portal can be accessed here.
