Arch Healthcare

1. An in-reach service to Royal Sussex County and Mill View hospitals. The aim of our hospital in-reach team is to improve health outcomes by supporting patients to stay in hospital for the duration of the required treatment (including starting them on substitute prescribing and alcohol detox when admitted), managing the time of their discharge, registering them with a GP if needed, liaising with housing services to ensure no-one is discharged onto the streets, making referrals to services like Adult Social Care, Integrated Nursing Team, Justlife and the substance misuse service who all help support people once they are discharged back to the community.
2. An engagement service offering non-clinical support to patients . The Justlife Heath Engagement Team work proactively, enabling patients to obtain and maintain suitable accommodation and access health and community services. Their intensive work is vital as they support people to build their confidence, take ownership of their situation, improve their health and engage positively with the wider community
3. Community Outreach: The Arch clinical team are actively involved in outreach to various contexts across the city including hostels, day centres, temporary accommodation and onto the streets. Outreach services enable our team to provide much needed care to people who seldom access healthcare services.
4. City Wide Leadership: Arch provides specialist health and clinical input in a variety of strategic areas for the city, working closely with other healthcare providers, third sector partners, the city council and the CCG. Read more about our work during the Covid pandemic and our work on health improvement project Common Ambition which illustrate our leadership in city-wide partnerships.

In all of our work, we are driven by our Vision and Values. These drive us to provide the best possible service to our patients, and to continue to improve our practice.

Arch is part of the East and Central Brighton Primary Care Network (PCN). This is a collaboration between 8 local GP surgeries, to share expertise and resources, and to develop new services, according to the needs of the neighbourhood.

Our PCN is part of the larger Brighton and Hove Federation. This organisation brings together PCNs and builds on their collaborative work, looking at the bigger picture and developing new models of care for the city.

As a new start up, the Arch board chose the model of Community Interest Company (CIC) as the best vehicle to deliver the kind of care required. According to the CIC Regulator website “A Community Interest Company (CIC) is a limited company, with special additional features, created for the use of people who want to conduct a business or other activity for community benefit, and not purely for private advantage.” This model is the best best fit for Arch Healthcare because it has all the rigour of running a professional business but all its assets are ‘locked’ and cannot be used for any other purpose than to benefit of the community which the organisation exists to support. Regardless of any surplus which is made by the company no dividends are paid to the directors. Importantly as a social enterprise Arch is entitled to apply for grants from various trusts, receive direct charitable donations and raise additional cash through trading. These multiple income streams are vital in building a surgery experience beyond the limits of commissioned services.