Rapid Intervention Centre (RIC)

The Northern Rapid Intervention Centre is based at Care Direct Plus, 20 St Georges Road, Barnstaple and provides a single point of contact for all health and social care professionals throughout the Northern locality who have an urgent case i.e. patient who is experiencing deterioration in their health or there has been a breakdown in their care arrangements to prevent unnecessary hospital or care home admission.

What services do we offer?

  • Rapid Response Care at Home – this is a short term service for up to 10 days. Care at home can be provided for up to 4 times a day and overnight if required, while the next stage of your care is planned and put into place. The care will be provided by skilled Rapid Response Support Workers employed by Northern Devon Healthcare NHS Trust or by care staff provided by local agencies.  All areas of Northern Devon are covered from 7:00am to 10.00pm, seven days a week.  This service is free of charge to the patient.
  • Rapid Response Placement – this is a short term service for up to 10 days and offers care and support sourced from a local care home as an alternative place to hospital admission. This service is free of charge to the patient.
  • Night Sits – this is a short term service, only a single night is booked at a time and is provided by local agencies. Further nights can be booked on review of the night sit report and is on individual need of the patient to support someone in crisis as an alternative to hospital admission. This service is free of charge to the patient.
  • Step Up or Step Down Placements – this is a medium term service for up to 40 days for people who are recovering from an acute illness or injury, whose conditions would be exacerbated by remaining at home or being discharged home. The care and support is sourced from a local care home as an alternative place to hospital admission.

In addition to this the RIC also provide the following;

  • Community Nurse eReferral coordination from North Devon District Hospital, Community Hospitals and Care Direct Plus.
  • End of life coordination of care packages for fast track applications that have been verified by the CHC team.
  • Care Home Sourcing being the point of contact for all health professionals requiring a care home placement.

What locations do we cover?

Our service is split across North Devon and stretches all the way to Bude and Holsworthy, serving a wide population across our community settings. We often refer to individual areas as 'clusters', which helps us provide the right care, at the right time, in the right setting.

We currently have the following clusters:

  • Ilfracombe and South Molton 
  • Barnstaple 
  • Torridge (Bideford, Northam, Torrington, and Hartland)
  • Holsworthy, Bude and Surrounding Villages

How can I be referred?

The Rapid Intervention Centre (RIC) coordinators accept referrals over the telephone from 7:00am – 10:30pm from health or social care professionals, such as GPs and Social Workers.  We are sorry but we do not accept direct referrals from the public.  The RIC coordinate the case by contacting the local Health and Social Care community teams to undertake an assessment of the patient’s needs; working alongside primary care supporting the person at home. The RIC ensure that the appropriate professionals are involved as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

Last updated: February 27, 2023

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