What is a Care Community?

Nantwich and Rural Care Community serves the population of Nantwich and its surrounding villages including Audlem and Wrenbury. This is a population of approximately 33,000 people.

The geography is based upon the registered lists of the five GP Practices within our own Primary Care Network. These are Audlem Medical Practice, Kiltearn Medical Centre, Nantwich Health Centre, Tudor Surgery and Wrenbury Medical Centre.

What do Care Communities do?

Care Communities are about the local community. They include the local GP network but are wider than this. They need to be broad and include all parties with an interest in the health of the local population – including representation from local people themselves.

It includes the wider primary care team, including Community Mental Health Teams, District Nurses, Occupational Health, Community Physio, Midwives, Dentists, Opticians, Pharmacists and other community specialists.

We recognise the need to take into account the whole community and there are others who have a significant role such as Social Care, Public Health, Education, Town Planners, Local Employers, Third Sector, Local Sports Groups, Parish Councils and of course the Communities themselves.

The idea of the Care Community is to arrange care, interventions and provide innovative health solutions in partnership with the local community that suit the needs of a whole population and takes the views of all these stakeholders into account. The reasons behind this are many but we face different problems today than in the past. An ageing population and increasingly complex care needs mean that single entities and indeed healthcare teams alone cannot solve all the problems we face. We will work in partnership to deliver not only a Care Community but a community that cares.

What Is A "Compassionate Community" within our Care Community?

We are committed to an initiative called “Compassionate Communities”. Our aim is to develop community cohesiveness by embracing the skills and talents of our local people that allows for community members to support one another in friendship. We have a vision for Audlem, Wrenbury, Nantwich and surrounding areas as a place where we live in a community with each other, where we can find important ways to connect with one another and support each other. We believe as a community this will not only enrich our lives, but also lessen the need for visits to the GP, hospital or even to become residents of nursing and care homes.

It is being increasingly recognised that social isolation, loneliness and disconnection from the community, which can occur at any age throughout life, can have many negative effects upon an individual’s health and wellbeing. This isolation can occur for many reasons which might include having a long-term condition, experiencing bereavement, being a full-time carer, having difficulty with transport to reach places, and many more. We hope that the development of this website will support the people in our local community to help one another and create opportunities for us all to build a compassionate community.