The response to your query is detailed below and attached:
Does your hospital use an early discharge scheme, use virtual wards, or a recovery at home scheme (i.e. a scheme for individuals to be discharged early from hospital who still have a clinical need but lower acuity than is necessary to take up a hospital bed)?
• Heartlands and Solihull use an in house early discharge scheme for all wards and assessment areas. This is called Supported Integrated discharge (SID) and about 150 patients per month access the service. The service is provided by HEFT staff and where necessary the packages of care are provided by the relevant local authority staff, SMBC or BCC
• GHH commissions Recovery at Home (R@H), Cedarwood (reablement unit)
• Cedarwood is a 28 bedded unit which provides a short term service for patients deemed to be medically and clinically fit for hospital discharge but are unable to be discharged currently due to either a need to provide a social care/reablement intervention prior to discharge such as managing medication and motivation to dress, wash or prepare food.
• The Recovery at Home service was commissioned by HEFT in 2013 to provide a virtual ward to assist in releasing beds, patients remain under the care of their Consultant but finish their hospital pathway at home or on Cedarwood. These patients may not be quite medically fit but are clinically stable. The team is comprised of Nurses, Healthcare Support Workers, Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists. The team assesses any patients that have been referred as suitable for transfer to Cedarwood and can provide the clinical and Therapy input of these patients. There is a R@H Nurse on the cedarwood site 7 days per week between the hours of 9-5pm. Patients that are residing at Cedarwood may also transfer home with the Recovery at Home service or may be discharged from the unit and the service to the care of their GP.
• GHH have access to discharge to assess beds commissioned by the local CCG or local councils.
• The Stroke Early Supported Discharge service – provides ongoing specialist stroke therapy to patients in their own home or Perry Trees rehabilitation unit. Patients are identified from the stroke wards at Good Hope and Heartlands
a. If yes does your hospital use an external provider or providers for this? If so which provider(s)? – see above.
b. Which wards use the scheme? All wards and front door
c. How many patients use the scheme each year (or quarter/month if available)? ESD for patients following a stroke have seen 142 patients between 1/4/14 and 28/2/15. See attachment outlining numbers for Recovery at Home which from September includes Cedarwood
c. i. Broken down by ward and provider? – ESD for stroke patients come from ward 24 at Good Hope. We don’t currently have a ward breakdown for the others
d. What are the clinical criteria used to determine who gets an early discharge? See above
