SHE thought she would lose her independence after breaking her hip in an accident.

But 84-year-old Romsey great-great-grandmother Doreen Townsend has been able to remain at home thanks to a new health scheme running in Hampshire.

The Enhanced Recovery and Support at Home service was launched in late 2014 aiming to keep people with complex health problems out of care homes and hospitals.

Run by Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust in partnership with Hampshire County Council, a 12-strong team visits locals to provide care that keeps them independent or removes the need for a hospital visit, freeing up doctors’ time.

Doreen was in hospital for 18 days after falling from her mobility scooter outside her home and breaking her hip – and with help from the £446,000 ERSH service she is back at home and feeling confident about her future.

She said: “The team were exceptional. They were so kind. They reassured me. I felt so much better after I talked to the nurses. It was so much better to be at home in my own bed, in my own surroundings.

“I thought, ‘now I am feeling a bit better I’ve got to go out otherwise I will never get my confidence back’. I was really proud of myself. I’ve had the most wonderful treatment.”

Occupational therapist Katy Gold, who leads the team, said: “It’s about reassuring the patient and confidence-giving when they are first home that we can help identify problems and support them. It means we can follow up quickly and check that they are following advice from the hospital.”

It comes as hospitals in Hampshire have been under considerable pressure this winter – with Southampton General Hospital on ‘black alert’ on a number of occasions, meaning there were no empty beds available for new patients. The situation has been just as critical at Winchester’s Royal Hampshire County Hospital with staff from departments like IT and HR asked to come on to the frontline and help as the trust found itself spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on agency staff.

Katy said the service can offer support to health chiefs in such situations.

She said: “It’s a continuous pathway in their recovery, so there is no gap in care. Often it means suitable patients can come out of hospital sooner.

“It’s better for patients to be in their own home when they don’t have a medical reason to be in hospital.”

The service aims to respond to calls within two hours between 8am and 8pm weekdays and 8am to 5pm on weekends. Funding for the scheme came from a national £700m winter pressures fund and so far has helped 75 people in the county. It was originally supposed to run until March but it is likely to be expanded.