Project Description
Objectives
The aim of the project was to improve quality and performance across frail elderly services and the frail elderly pathway, whilst shifting care from an acute to a community environment.
This involved;
- Working across both commissioner and provider organisations, an increasing need was recognised to innovate and improve frail elderly care locally.
A service strategy for frail elderly care was produced in conjunction with key stakeholders, communicated simply through a “strategy on a page”, highlighting key aims of shifting care to the community whilst improving acute care quality.
What we did
Our support included;
- Implementation of a front-door A&E geriatrician with a rapid assessment and treatment therapy team
Rapid access elderly care clinics, through consultant job review, supporting admission avoidance
Nurse-led falls clinics and community IV therapy provision
Launch of a dementia steering group and specialist dementia nurses
Implementation of an early supportive discharge service and discharge “clearing house”
Joint geriatric/ psychiatry clinics for holistic cognitive assessment and treatment of elderly patients
The strategy and implementation were supported through reviewed governance, workforce and performance structures
Our impact
Our results included;
- A sustained improvement of nursing quality metrics above 90%, including indicators relating to pressure ulcer incidence, nutrition scores and patient observation
Improved patient experience sustained at over 91% for all elderly care wards
Rapid access to specialist elderly assessment and treatment, reducing falls and adverse incidents
Reduction in average length of stay by around 7 day
Reduction in unnecessary A&E attendances and admissions
10% reduction in occupied bed days
5% increase in monthly discharges
30% reduction in nursing spend due to reduced sickness and cover required
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