The nights are drawing in, temperature dropping and leaves are turning colour: autumn is arriving here in the UK. For the NHS that means one thing on the horizon: winter pressures.
Demand and pressures have been building on emergency care and inpatient departments for a number of years, and increases significantly over winter because of a rise in the number of people admitted to hospital. Caused by a number of factors, particularly the impact of cold weather on people’s health, including young children, older people and those with long term respiratory conditions, it is compounded by delayed transfers of care back.
But it’s not just about A&E and social care, all of the health and care system has a part to play in understanding and tackling winter pressures.
So, if budgets, red tape and politics were no object, and we all admit that can be an issue at times, what could you do as a practitioner, and a service, to prevent people from being admitted to hospital and facilitate swifter and more timely discharges to their home, intermediate care facilities or other service? How could you play an active part in prevention, and helping people to keep safe and well during the winter months?
Join us for this tweetchat on Monday 3rd October at 8pm UK time to discuss how we all ca play a part during the winter. We are keen to hear your views and thoughts around the questions below but are looking for a lively chat with your ‘ideal world’ hats on!
Pre-chat resources
- Winter pressures: what’s going on behind the scenes? (Quality Watch, 2016)
- Winter pressures: the tip of the iceberg (Blog from Quality Watch)
- Beating the effects of winter pressures (BMA, 2016)
- Making every contact count for winter (PHE, 2015)
- NICE guidance onExcess winter deaths and illness and the health risks associated with cold homes
- Video from Public Health Englandexploring health issues around cold weather
Questions to think about before the chat:
- What currently limits your ability to aid someone’s timely discharge from hospital to their home or a community facility ?
- What experience have you had where a service, intervention or technology/equipment may have prevented someone being admitted to hospital?
- What about prevention and making every contact count? How can we play an active part in helping people keep safe and well over winter?
- Admissions and delayed discharges are a frightening and vulnerable time for patients and families – how do we keep sight of this when the pressure is on for bed spaces?
- If money were no object what would you change in acute services and community care to help? Is there room for improvement?
- What if some of this isn’t blue sky thinking? How can we learn from other services already leading the way and making a difference?
- If you could change one thing tomorrow to improve the admission and discharge of patients what would that be?
About Therapy Expo
Therapy Expo is once again running it’s national event at the NEC in Birmingham this November, a dedicated event for hands on therapists we have expanded our provision of CPD sessions this year with sessions relevant for acute and out of hospital based staff.
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