Access to information and support can be invaluable to those without family support or links to services available in their community. The Third Sector Referral Coordinator (TSRC) team provide an additional resource for health and social care staff to support people to access and benefit from support from local community and/or national third sector organisations.

The team take referrals for adults from acute and community hospital teams, clinical teams based within each of the 7 Integrated Care Communities (ICCs) and Adult Social Care (ASC) in North Cumbria NHS area.

Click here to get in touch with our TSRC Team

 

The Team

 

Following a referral, individuals receive a holistic assessment telephone call from the TSRC team to discuss potential support they could benefit from. They will ensure the individual is given information, guidance, and support to access the wealth of third sector organisations and services across North Cumbria. With consent, this is often via a direct referral to the appropriate third sector organisation.

Some examples of the support the TSRC team have assisted people to access include:

NB This list is not exhaustive and support isn’t limited to the patient/individual being referred – It could be support for their family or carers dependent on the specific needs/goals at the time of referral.

 

How to refer into the Third Sector Referral Co-ordinator Team

Referrals to the TSRC Team can only be made by NHS Health or Social Care Staff. If you think that you or a family member would benefit from some additional support from the Third Sector, please ask your Health or Social Care practitioner to make a referral on your behalf and one of our Coordinators will contact you.

To make a referral to the team on behalf of someone, please E-mail: pathway0@cumbriacvs.org.uk with the information below:

• Name
• Address
• D.O.B
• Telephone number(s)
• NHS Number (if you have this)
• An indication that the person has given consent to the referral to our Team.
• A brief outline of the person’s needs. If goals/outcomes that the person is hoping to achieve have been identified with staff, it can be helpful to have this information to help guide the telephone consultation.
• Any important notes to flag for our team

IMPORTANT TO NOTE: All members of the TSRC Team have honorary contracts with NCIC, are authorised to discuss patient information with clinical staff and will manage patient information appropriately.

 

Background information

Read an Evaluation of the Third Sector Referral Coordinator Team: Nurturing Connectivity between the Third Sector and Health Sector, produced in January 2023 by Dr Meghánn Ward, Professor Tom Grimwood and Dr Laura Snell at Health and Society Knowledge Exchange (HASKE), University of Cumbria.

Read an Evaluation of the Third Sector Referral Coordinator Team, produced in February 2022 by Dr Laura Snell, Dr Tom Grimwood and Vicki Goodwin at Health and Society Knowledge Exchange (HASKE), University of Cumbria.