Staff perspectives of a novel integrated community care hub in an urban underserved population (UK)

o Context or Objective: The UK is witnessing an increase in emergency department use and hospital admissions for children and young people from underserved populations, exacerbated in the UK by continued issues around access to primary care. One way the persistent health inequalities experienced by these sections of the population can be addressed is by providing integrated “place-based” care. The “Sparkbrook Children’s Zone” (SCZ) is one of the first initiatives in the UK to co-locate GPs, dentists, pharmacists, social care organisations, and community-based services in a collaborative attempt to meet the specific needs and challenges of the local population.

o Study Design and Analysis: A qualitative study assessing provider perspectives of delivering the SCZ. The data was analysed using a directed content analysis to populate the domains and constructs of the “SELFIE” model developed to describe models of integrated care (www.selfie2020.eu). Its domains include Service Delivery, Workforce, Financing, and Leadership and Governance o Setting or Dataset o Population Studied: The study is set in Sparkbrook in inner-city Birmingham (UK), one of the most ethnically diverse and poorest areas in the UK with high levels of deprivation and unemployment. We interviewed 15 staff involved in delivering the SCZ these included GPs, secondary care consultants, and social care practitioners.

o Intervention/Instrument The SCZ began in March 2022 and includes paediatricians from Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, local social care providers, and GPs from seven family practices delivering care in shared locations.

o Outcome Measures/Results: Clinical staff described the benefits of providing accessible personalised care alongside social care providers that can address some of the social determinants of health (such as housing and nutrition); The strength of multi-disciplinary team working was observed where co-located colleagues could learn from each other, and walk patients to colleagues with other skill sets within the same building; finally they described the benefits of open and transparent leadership that shared and communicated the same vision and values.

o Conclusions: The SCZ is well-placed to provide improved preventative care for underserved children and their families.