Therapy team sees discharge times slashed

During the first three months of a new referral system, more than half of the older patients seen by the therapy team at West Middlesex university Hospital Trust were discharged within two days, with a further 14 per cent discharged within a week.

The overhaul came after an assurance visit by the NHS’s Emergency Care Intensive Support Team, which told the older adults therapy team it must improve the discharge system to ease the flow of patients through the hospital.

As part of the plan to address the problem, the team moved from being ward based, and introduced an early referral programme that would mean all older patients were assessed by therapists immediately upon admission.

Therapy team leader for older adults at West Middlesex Hospital Anne McLaughlin, said: ‘We now go along to screen patients in A&E and the acute medical unit on their first day on the ward.

‘Working with nursing staff, we decide if the patients need therapy from physios or occupational therapists (OTs), or if they need referring to a more appropriate specialist team. It means we can start treatment with patients straight away.’

 Ms McLaughlin said there was no extra budget for the project, but it had proved to be cost neutral.

‘There has also been a big increase to staff morale because we feel we are making better use of our physio and OT skills,’ she added.