Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital
Early discharge and follow-up for medical admissions could facilitate reduced length of stay and improve patient satisfaction. However, evidence to confirm this is lacking. Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) designed an early ward discharge clinic (EWDC) service embedded within its acute medicine depa...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2024-11-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open Quality |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/13/4/e002935.full |
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| author | Tasneem Ahmed Georgia Kate Galloway Sarah Nahin Choudhury |
| author_facet | Tasneem Ahmed Georgia Kate Galloway Sarah Nahin Choudhury |
| author_sort | Tasneem Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Early discharge and follow-up for medical admissions could facilitate reduced length of stay and improve patient satisfaction. However, evidence to confirm this is lacking. Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) designed an early ward discharge clinic (EWDC) service embedded within its acute medicine department to provide clinicians with the opportunity for a prompt clinical review following a hospital admission.Across three cycles, several interventions aimed to improve the utilisation of clinic, appropriateness of referrals and reduce the number of missed attendances. Our work has demonstrated that a service such as the EWDC can provide ample opportunity for early review of patients which could reduce the rate of readmissions and improve services. Interventions to date have improved the utilisation of the clinic, reduced the number of patients not being aware of appointments and provided training opportunities for junior clinicians. Data has also suggested a high level of patient satisfaction from using the service.Further research is needed to confirm the use of such services in reducing readmissions and mortality, however, results from clinics at individual units such as PCH provide useful insight until such data is available. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-35ee0db2dfe54e8688537dd337c53da2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2399-6641 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open Quality |
| spelling | doaj-art-35ee0db2dfe54e8688537dd337c53da22025-08-20T01:57:01ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open Quality2399-66412024-11-0113410.1136/bmjoq-2024-002935Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospitalTasneem Ahmed0Georgia Kate Galloway1Sarah Nahin Choudhury2Peterborough City Hospital, Peterborough, UKPeterborough City Hospital, Peterborough, UKPeterborough City Hospital, Peterborough, UKEarly discharge and follow-up for medical admissions could facilitate reduced length of stay and improve patient satisfaction. However, evidence to confirm this is lacking. Peterborough City Hospital (PCH) designed an early ward discharge clinic (EWDC) service embedded within its acute medicine department to provide clinicians with the opportunity for a prompt clinical review following a hospital admission.Across three cycles, several interventions aimed to improve the utilisation of clinic, appropriateness of referrals and reduce the number of missed attendances. Our work has demonstrated that a service such as the EWDC can provide ample opportunity for early review of patients which could reduce the rate of readmissions and improve services. Interventions to date have improved the utilisation of the clinic, reduced the number of patients not being aware of appointments and provided training opportunities for junior clinicians. Data has also suggested a high level of patient satisfaction from using the service.Further research is needed to confirm the use of such services in reducing readmissions and mortality, however, results from clinics at individual units such as PCH provide useful insight until such data is available.https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/13/4/e002935.full |
| spellingShingle | Tasneem Ahmed Georgia Kate Galloway Sarah Nahin Choudhury Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital BMJ Open Quality |
| title | Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| title_full | Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| title_fullStr | Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| title_full_unstemmed | Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| title_short | Early ward discharge clinic: facilitating discharges and prompt follow-up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| title_sort | early ward discharge clinic facilitating discharges and prompt follow up for medical inpatients in a district general hospital |
| url | https://bmjopenquality.bmj.com/content/13/4/e002935.full |
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