NHS England has revealed a new “tool” designed to help patients get home from hospital quicker.
The new online training, called ActNow, has been developed for health service and care staff to help them reduce hospital delays for patients.
The initiative has been launched off the back of the news that nearly 350,000 patients currently spend over three weeks in acute hospitals each year – many of those are older people who are often frail, and while a short period of treatment in hospital is sometimes necessary, staying too long can leave them vulnerable to infections or deconditioning.
Further to this, more than one in three 70-year-olds experience muscle ageing during a prolonged stay in hospital, rising to two thirds of those aged over 90, which can leave some permanently less mobile or able to perform tasks they could before.
To help such people get back to the comfort of their own home quicker, action is being rolled out as part of the NHS Long Term Plan. NHS doctors, nurses and other staff are being encouraged to ask themselves “Why not home? Why not today?” when planning care for patients recovering from an operation or illness, as part of a campaign called ‘Where Best Next?’, which aims to see around 140,000 people every year spared a hospital stay of three weeks or more.
The NHS has implemented the system as they want to “ensure that all patients benefit from the shortest possible stay on a ward, getting home as soon as they are fit to leave with the support they need.”
Hilary Garratt, deputy chief nursing officer for England, said “Not only is that better for them, reducing the risk of infection or loss of mobility for older people in particular, but it also means that more beds are available for others who need care too, easing pressure on A&E and other parts of the system.
“This new ActNow resource will help nursing and care teams in the vital role they play throughout a patient’s journey, and are ideal to include as part of team training or for professional development plans for nurses at every level, including our non-registered colleagues.”
The plan will cover the use of new technology, effective early discharge planning and caring for people at home.
