Galway University Hospital (GUH ), Portiuncula University Hospital (PUH ) and Community Healthcare West are implementing further initiatives this Winter to support hospital admission avoidance and promote patient flow across all acute and community healthcare facilities through an integrated approach.
The initiatives will maximise the use of available resources to manage unscheduled care pressure and support an overall improvement to the patient journey. The initiatives identified for 2022/2023 are focused on established best practice in relation to admission avoidance and patient flow. An enhanced GP/Hospital Liaison will support the provision of care, in the right place at the right time.
GUH and CHW initiatives as part of the Winter Plan 2022/23 include:
— Recruitment of staff to support Patient Flow at Pre-Admission. This will maximise usage of community support services by strengthening referral pathways to support admission avoidance and facilitate rapid discharge.
— Supporting the expansion of the OPRAH programme with the recruitment of an Occupational Therapist, Senior Physiotherapist and additional hours for a Medical Social Worker and Consultant Geriatrician.
— Three additional Emergency Medicine Consultants and one additional Registrar for GUH have been sanctioned for recruitment by the Minister for Health.
— Recruitment of patient flow coordinators to cover all wards and diagnostics in GUH.
— Recruitment of a social worker to address greater than 14 Day Length of Stay rounds.
— Investment to support the use of 20 private beds.
— Employment of six healthcare assistants in the Community Mental Health Services to promote ED and admission avoidance, support early discharge and improve interdisciplinary communications
— CHW will continue to provide rehabilitation, respite beds and short-stay beds to target admission avoidance and rapid discharge
— GUH and CHW will provide enhancement of GP Access to Diagnostics and Out-of-Hours (OOH ) supports.
PUH and CHW initiatives as part of the Winter Plan 2022/23 include:
— Recruitment of staff to support and optimise Patient Flow from admission to discharge. This will help ensure we maximise usage of community support services by strengthening referral pathways to support admission avoidance and facilitate rapid discharge.
— Recruitment of a Clinical Nurse Manager and a Senior Pharmacist for ED to address admission avoidance and improve Patient
— Recruitment of 2 Healthcare Assistants to support more timely discharge of patients.
— Recruitment of a Data Analyst to support the rollout of digital solutions across community services to ensure greater integration between community and acute. This will help avoid unnecessary hospital attendances for patients.
— CHW will continue to provide rehabilitation, respite beds and short-stay beds to target admission avoidance and rapid discharge
— PUH and CHW will provide enhancement of GP Access to Diagnostics and Out-of-Hours (OOH ) supports.
GUH, PUH and CHW will maximise usage of the outlined community support services by strengthening and standardising referral pathways to support admission avoidance and discharge.
Tony Canavan, CEO Saolta University Health Care Group said this Joint Winter Plan allocation will increase access for patients to a wider range of services in the community, decreasing demand on acute facilities.
“These measures will ensure we can provide the best possible support to the population in the coming months. Ultimately, reducing long waiting times in our EDs will require more beds in our acute hospitals and in community units and the teams necessary to staff them safely.
“This plan improves upon already established resources, and provides opportunities for improvement. Through collaboration between disciplines and services we can promote optimal patient care closer to home.”
Breda Crehan Roche, Chief Officer, Community Healthcare West stated that CHW will continue to provide supports, through available national funds to support admission avoidance including Community Intervention Teams (CIT ), Home Support, Aids and Appliances, GP Access to Diagnostics and GP Out of Hours (OOHs ).
“Investment has been received for the recruitment a GP Liaison Nurse to facilitate admission avoidance. These measures will ensure the continued development of community services and the growth in care to people at home or in community-based HSE facilities so they don’t have to be admitted to hospital unless they really need to be,” she said.
