We are the largest community health and social care enterprise in the UK, delivering more than 80 services across physical health, mental health and social care to people in Plymouth and parts of South Hams and West Devon, supporting them to lead independent and healthy lives.
Everything we do is geared towards getting the best outcomes and greatest “social value” for our communities whether that’s improving people’s health and wellbeing through our work, ensuring we offer fulfilling career opportunities and progression or minimising our impact on the environment.
Social value is so important to us, that one of our strategic aims for this year is to continue to be an organisation with a strong social conscience, supporting our community to be healthier.
And being a social enterprise means we can do things a little differently, bringing organisations together to increase the impact we have.
These are just some of the ways we’ve achieved this over the last year at Livewell:
- Working alongside the University of St Mark and St John whose sports therapists help deliver our Lower Limb Wellbeing Programme to 1,200 people, all of whom are benefitting from an innovative approach to healing leg ulcers through wellbeing advice on exercise, lifestyle and nutrition alongside traditional clinical support
- Our frailty project with Pathfields Medical Group brings together district nurses, social workers, therapists and a doctor to create support plans for older people identified as being most at risk of losing their independence through frailty. The plans mean they only tell their story once, and initial data shows 34% fewer patients being admitted to hospital
- Our pioneering neighbourhood matrons in Tavistock and South Hams who bring nurses in the neighbourhood together to ensure better, consistent care for people
- Working alongside Dementia UK to appoint an Admiral Nurse to better support people with dementia living in West Devon
- Supporting frequent attenders to UHP’s ED department when the real problem isn’t a medical emergency through our Frequent User Support & Empowerment (FUSE) project which has so far supported 33 people and saved the NHS £294,200.68
- Our One You Plymouth team joined forces with Plymouth Community Homes to launch the ‘Swap to Stop’ pilot to help smokers to swap cigarettes for vaping
- During the COVID-19 pandemic our Latch On Breastfeeding Peer supporters offered virtual sessions to continue to support mums and babies with breastfeeding
- We launched the intergenerational project where we welcomed local primary school children to some of our wards to help patients on their road to recovery
- Gifting £100,000 to the Livewell Foundation, our charitable arm to support local charities and organisations
- Working with Devon and Cornwall Police and South Western Ambulance Service to launch the Joint Response Vehicle to support people in Plymouth experiencing a mental health crisis, so that they are cared for at the right time and in the right place
- We launched the Individual Patient and Support (IPS) Employment Service, working with people receiving secondary mental health treatment to support them in finding suitable paid work
- Setting up the Extra Care Hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic to open 48 beds for people who were ready to leave hospital but needed support before they could get home.
- Working alongside Plymouth City Council, voluntary and third sector organisations to launch Caring for Plymouth – the operation to support Plymouth’s most vulnerable residents as they shielded at the outbreak of coronavirus. So far they have received 334 referrals, signposted 1,886 clients to support services and triaged 3,578 clients.
- Livewell currently has 69 apprentices – 3.29% of the workforce, more than the 2.3% target – working across different areas and professions including nursing, business admin, leadership management and therapy support workers.
- Last year we gifted our Apprentice Levy to local care homes to enable five of their staff to undertake the Nursing Associate programme alongside our own colleagues. The NA programme is a stepping stone to becoming a registered nurse.
- Our paid work placement opportunities support people from marginalised groups to come into Livewell Southwest to learn or re-learn skills, build confidence and feel and be valued. Sixty-nine people have gone through the programme since it started
- Signing up to the Pennies from Heaven Scheme and encouraging our colleagues to donate their pennies to St Luke’s Hospice Plymouth
Adam Morris, Chief Executive Officer of Livewell Southwest said: “We are so proud to be an ambitious social enterprise and one of the largest community health and care social enterprises in the UK, with a strong social conscience guiding all that we do to help people lead independent healthy lives.
“We are always striving to improve the way we work to help others and to give more back to our communities, more so than ever this year with our partners.
“COVID-19 has brought out the best in everyone at Livewell and I’ve been overwhelmed by the positivity and commitment they have shown and this is has been matched by the kindness and support our communities have shown my 3000 colleagues as they work in extremely challenging conditions. They have really shown what we are capable of achieving as one big team during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“2021 will show us working even closer with communities, with both Plymouth City Council and Devon County Council, schools and further education colleges, a vibrant and capable VCSE sector, primary care networks and University Hospitals Plymouth. All this work has listening to the needs of citizens at it’s heart and we look forward to building even better links, and stronger resilience in the communities we serve.”