Intermediate Care

are targeted at people who would otherwise face unnecessarily prolonged hospital stays or inappropriate admission to acute in-patient care, long term residential, or continuing NHS in-patient care;

are provided on the basis of a comprehensive assessment, resulting in a structured individual care plan that involves active therapy, treatment or opportunity for recovery;

have a planned outcome of maximising independence and typically enabling service users to resume living at home;

are time-limited, normally no longer than six weeks and frequently as little as 1-2 weeks or less;