Nurse-led team cuts hospital admissions
- Published: 02 April 2008 10:18
- Author: Richard Staines
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- Last Updated: 02 April 2008 10:18
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A nurse-led team that visits care home residents has prevented admissions to nursing homes and hospital, according to researchers.
The team, set up jointly by Bath and North East Somerset PCT and a local authority, may have saved up to £36.90 per patient. This has made savings of around £250,000 per year, according to a study by the University of the West of England, Bristol, and the University of Warwick.
The research also showed there were benefits because the team, which includes nurses and a physiotherapist, prevented up to 28 admissions to nursing homes. It also showed the team's support for new types of working among care home staff was able to avert between 81 and 197 hospital admissions.
The two-year pilot scheme was set up in three local authority residential homes caring for 131 long-term residents.
Study author Deidre Wild, from the University of the West of England's faculty of nursing, said: 'Allowing people to remain in their care homes by bringing in specialist care during episodes of illness was greatly valued by both residents and staff.'
