Continuing Healthcare: A New Approach to the Assessment and Care Provision at Night
What:
Just Checking Telecare was added to the assessment of patients referred to the Night Nursing Service, prioritising the most vulnerable patients i.e. older people, living alone, co-morbid conditions (physical and cognitive) and. These patients and their carers are at increased risk of entering other services if their needs are not met.
Why:
This project is part of the Leeds Continuing Health Care transformation programme as 90% of patients requiring night care are Continuing Health Care patients.
Impact:
A training package for community staff has raised awareness of the benefits of telecare and addressed misconceptions. The project has also demonstrated a reduction in self reported carer anxiety and cost of night care provision. The choice for the levels of care available have also been widened with the introduction of a night sleeper service and has resulted in a reduction in the cost of night care of almost 20% in some cases.
There was concern that Mrs F had some night time needs, there was a lot of carer strain Mr F was at the end of his tether a night assessment with Just Checking was under taken. When we looked at all the information including the night sitter assessment we could see that Mrs F was getting up 3 or 4 times in the night and that she was very unsettled during the afternoon which meant that Mr F was very tired. In the past we would probably have requested 6 or 7 nights to support the couple but armed with all the information we were able to offer extra support during the day and some help three nights per week thus avoiding unnecessary intrusive night care and a major caring crisis.
Lead Contact: Karen Newboult, Health Improvement Principal, NHS Leeds
0113 305 7673 Karen.Newboult@nhsleeds.nhs.uk
