Rapid Assessment and Intervention Team (West Sussex)

The Rapid Asseswment and Intervention Team (RAIT) is an integrated multi-disciplinary community team providing a rapid assessment service at the interface between primary and secondary care.

The team includes nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and social workers. The team also includes an admission avoidance nurse for care homes; there is currently one in post based at Worthing and one to be recruited at St Richard's.

They provide:

• A full assessment of health and social care need, including risk assessment in community and A&E
• See patients within 2 hours of referral
• If appropriate, coordinate short-term care alternative to admission, possibly into a nursing/residential home
• A package of care will be identified and agreed with the patient/carer
• RAIT will have responsibility for providing up to 72 hours of care and ensuring handover either to appropriate services for the coordination of on-going care packages
• The focus of RAIT will be to provide support and rehabilitation during and following a health crisis where patients are at risk of an avoidable admission to acute care
• The admission avoidance nurse for care homes works with care homes in the community, providing advice, education and domiciliary visits with the aim of preventing
  inappropriate hospital admissions for this cohort of patients

Patients accepted by RAIT will be experiencing an acute alteration in their physical wellbeing or social circumstance which, without the input of this service, would result in an acute hospital admission.The Rapid Assessment Team is part of the One Call / One Team service.