As part of the Health Call collaboration, County Durham and Darlington reduces nurse visits to care homes by 45% by the introduction of a digital SBAR service.
Problem
- Community nursing services under increasing pressure to deliver care to patients in care homes
- Multiple visits can be made to the same care home each day by different teams
- Care homes default to calling 999 / 111 and ambulances are often dispatched when they may not be needed
- There is no way to track incoming requests
Solution
- Inhealthcare developed a digital assessment form for carers to complete with patient observations
- Central triage of patients and their symptoms enables nurses to direct the right care to the right patient at the right time
- Appropriate information is given to NHS responders
- Patient electronic health record is updated with latest results from carers and triage team
Outcomes
- 45% reduction in specialist nurse visits
- 18% reduction in overall unplanned admisisons
- 13% reduction in out-of-hours unplanned admissions
- 24% reduction in in-hours unplanned admissions