July 2025 – After the Government last week launched its 10-Year Health Plan to modernise the NHS and bring care closer to communities, HCRG Care Group – the UK’s largest specialist community services provider – is today celebrating the first 100 days of two transformation programmes delivering integrated neighbourhood health services to adults, children, and families across Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire (BSW), and Surrey.
The fresh approach by HCRG Care Group is making it easier to access community health services and delivering more joined-up, person-centred care closer to home.
In BSW, HCRG Care Group is leading a two-year transformation that breaks down traditional service silos and shifts more care to neighbourhood level. Over 3,000 community health professionals deliver adult and children’s therapies, urgent care, community nursing, and more – working in partnership with voluntary organisations to deliver support that’s tailored to local need.
“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a responsive, truly integrated community healthcare system,” said Val Scrase, Regional Director for BSW Community Services. “We’re already seeing the benefits of stronger local partnerships and are proud to be empowering people to manage their health through improved access and digital tools.”
Meanwhile, in Surrey, HCRG Care Group is at the start of an ambitious transformation that will see a a radical shift in how children and families receive care, focusing resources on those most in need. The wide range of children’s community health services offered includes antenatal and early years support, school nursing, immunisation programmes, therapies, specialist support for children with additional health and care needs, and developmental paediatrics.
A new single point of access (SPA), extended hours for the community nursing advice line, co-located multidisciplinary teams, and free online sessions covering topics such as antenatal care and school readiness, have already been implemented. Ongoing work focuses on reducing waiting times for therapies and developmental paediatrics and a dedicated app, launching soon,will give families instant access to health and wellbeing information and advice.
“We put families at the heart of everything we do,” said David Mitchell, Regional Director for Surrey. “On day one we introduced Healthy Family Teams to deliver comprehensive and coordinated care from local clinics. In the coming months, in line with the NHS 10-year plan, we’ll be embracing technology to support the prevention of ill-health by enabling families to easily access education and advice on health and wellbeing.”
These changes are part of a broader national effort to modernise the NHS. The programmes are just the latest in a long line of community services transformation projects HCRG has run since it was created in 2012. These have helped move more care into the community, reduce pressure on A&E, improve self-management by those who have long term conditions, and helped people to stay living independently for longer. HCRG Care Group aims to “change lives by transforming health and care”, invest money up-front in making change happen, and has recently been selected to run a similar transformation programme in North Kent.
To learn more about these services, visit:
BSW Community Services – https://bswcommunityservices.co.uk
Surrey Child and Family Health – https://surreychildandfamily.co.uk
