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Care Home Support Team (CHST)

We work with care home staff to build their skills, knowledge, and confidence in the vital work they do to improve the wellbeing of care residents.

Our focus is on prevention and early intervention.

Providing staff with the right skills training and advice to support to residents can make a big difference to their quality of life, and help manage health challenges to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. 

Support is provided by our specialist teams of nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, pharmacists, and multitherapy assistants.

We work in partnership with you and your staff to offer the right guidance and training to suit your needs.

Care homes can contact our team on an ongoing basis, as and when issues arise.

How we work with other teams

We work closely with other services to ensure a joined-up approach of care:

  • Urgent Community Response (UCR) team to support care homes - visit the UCR Service page (opens new browser tab)
  • Complex medication reviews following a referral from CHST/UCR members or GP practice staff to optimise medication and reduce risks of polypharmacy
  • Regular communications with Care Homes and Royal Berkshire Hospital (RBH) Discharge team and other acute hospitals
  • Signposting to other services, depending on the needs of the person and your team
  • Specialist support for complex case management including Clinical Review Meetings (CRMs) / multidisciplinary meetings (MDT’s)

We seek to improve the health, wellbeing, and independence of care home residents by working closely with your care home staff to build their knowledge, skills, and confidence.

We offer training around key areas such as:

  • Catheter management
  • Dementia awareness e.g., psychological symptoms, behaviours, challenges
  • Depression/apathy
  • Deprivation of liberty safeguards
  • Diabetes
  • End of life nurse care (palliative)
  • Equipment advice for individual residents and the home
  • Falls prevention and management
  • Management of chronic conditions Parkinson’s, MS, spasticity 
  • Mental capacity act
  • Ongoing support of care home staff, falls, dementia and dysphagia champions
  • Oral mouth care, including swallowing problems (dysphagia)
  • Psychosis
  • Reducing the risk of pressure sores and contractures
  • Sexual disinhibition
  • Using social interactions to improve wellbeing and independence
  • Wound and pressure area management 

Our West Berkshire team also offers Postural Management Service

Read our Postural Management Leaflet (pdf) 

We can also provide targeted and bespoke support to residents and staff with more complex needs, over a longer ongoing period.

  • Development and ongoing support of care home staff champions around key areas like pressure damage, dementia, falls
  • Support care home staff to make appropriate referrals to other service
  • Mental health assessments with a focus on psycho-social interventions
  • Encouraging person-centred approaches through MDT (Multidisciplinary Team) support
  • Liaise with local hospitals, identifying residents admitted from care homes and provide support to facilitate timely discharge

East Berkshire

For staff training

Complete our referral form and email it to us

Email EastBerksCareHomeTeam@berkshire.nhs.uk

For assessment of individual resident

Contact our hub referral team 

Call 0300 365 1234 

West Berkshire

Email carehomesupport@berkshire.nhs.uk

No referral form needed.