Complex Acute Response Team

The Thanet Health Community Interest Company has been instrumental in developing and facilitating the complex ART service which has been running since November 2016. It was initiated with the understanding that patients were often not seen by the most appropriate clinician at the most appropriate place. It was founded on the principles of integrated care – creating a team from multiple agencies and services all working together to ensure the best possible holistic care for a patient in crisis.

The C-ART Service is currently based at and Westbrook House with an ‘In Reach’ service delivered from within the emergency department (ED) of the Queen Elisabeth Queen Mother Hospital (QEQM). It develops packages of care and support for a duration of 5 days to enable the patient to stay at home, or their familiar surroundings, and ensures ongoing needs are communicated to the surgery of the patient where those can be picked up accordingly – either through the surgery alone or its associated multi-disciplinary team (MDT).

Patients can be referred to the complex ART team by GPs, Community Practitioners, Hospital Doctors, the ambulance services and any members of the MDTs of Thanet and are made directly to the Senior Clinical Decision Maker. A package of care is then developed rapidly.

C-ART is a nationally recognised service that has been nominated for two National Awards in the last year, (HSJ and Parliamentary awards - shortlisted nominees for the SE for the Parliamentary awards and finalists in the category of Primary and Community Care Innovation of the Year and also Primary and Community Provider of the Year for the HSJ awards