Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will be one of seven areas across the country to accelerate improvements to help older people stay well at home and avoid long stays in hospital.

The announcement takes forward plans set out in the NHS Long Term Plan to enable community teams to respond quickly to peoples’ needs and prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.

The additional investment will see urgent requests responded to within two hours. In addition, support to help people regain their ability to perform their usual activities like cooking meals, washing and getting about will be provided within two days.

Helen Childs, chief operating officer at NHS Kernow Clinical Commissioning Group said: ‘This will be better for people, their families and also means that hospital beds are available for the people who need these very specialist services and expertise.’

Phil Confue, chief executive of Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, added: ’This investment will significantly boost our plans to transform how we respond to the needs of older people. GPs, ambulance colleagues and partners from across health and care will have a real alternative to seeking a hospital admission – knowing they can request and receive a response within two hours or days based on what people need.’

Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly will begin to develop its urgent community response services with the design of the new service model ready for April this year with full county roll out by April 2021.