PATIENTS at the Countess of Chester Hospital are being released sooner, following major operations, under a new scheme to free up beds.
The one-year pilot scheme aims to save the equivalent of 700 bed days and has already treated 57 patients with their home follow-up service.
Managers at the hospital say their innovative scheme is proving to be a major success.
Alison Swanton, clinical lead for therapy services at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This service not only benefits patients, who are in hospital for a shorter time, but it also frees up beds for the trust.
“It means that patients, once recovered from their operation, can receive their physiotherapy and occupational therapy at home and have the additional comfort of knowing that they can receive extra support at home for making meals and getting dressed.”
Last year, an investigation by the Daily Post into bed blocking – the name given to cases where patients end up staying in hospital because councils can’t provide the right care home or home support straight away – revealed that many patients are waiting months in hospital for appropriate care to be found.
As a result, councils in Merseyside and Cheshire were paying out hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to hospitals in compensation.
In 2003, when the last bed- blocking crisis was at its peak, the Government told hospitals to fine councils £100 a day for “delayed discharge” cases, in a bid to make social services departments move more swiftly, although many hospitals did not charge the full amount.
The investigation last December showed that, across the region, more than 10,000 “bed days” were being lost each year to delayed discharges, raising concerns among senior managers in hospitals about their reduced ability to meet strict waiting list targets for other patients.
The Countess of Chester Hospital recorded a single bed blocking case lasting 96 days. It also reported others of 65 days and 46 days. But the new scheme allows patients who have had emergency surgery, or hip or knee operations, and who are well enough to be discharged early to receive daily home visits from the specially formed Orthopaedic Outreach Team.
The team consists of a nurse co-ordinator, physiotherapist, occupational therapist and three rehabilitation carers.
The help and care they offer can range from helping to make a meal, assisting patients out of bed and getting them dressed, to continuous rehabilitation support to maximise a patient’s mobility and independence following surgery.
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