Care team supports discharge of patients
Hundreds of patients have been helped with a speedy discharge from hospital to ease pressure on medical staff during the coronavirus pandemic thanks to Dudley Council’s adult social care team.
In the last couple of years as part of the improved better care fund, the council’s adult social care team has worked closely with staff at Russells Hall Hospital to bring the number of adult social care related delayed discharges down to record levels.
This has been through the introduction of new initiatives to speed up the discharge process including putting care packages in place so someone could be discharged from hospital with the reassurance they would receive the appropriate care at home.
In the face of the coronavirus pandemic the team has had to respond quickly and adapt the way they work to help get people back into their own homes quicker than ever before.
From the beginning of May, more than 250 patients who were referred to the team were discharged the same day (or next day if referred after 3pm) with a care package in place, allowing them to have care and support for a period of recovery following their hospital stay.
This has meant hospital beds were not been taken up unnecessarily and could be prioritised immediately for the people who needed them.
Councillor Nicolas Barlow, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said:
The council salutes the magnificent efforts of our NHS colleagues throughout the Covid ’19 period and the bravery of all key workers on the front line. It is right and fitting that social care should be acknowledged for its huge contribution to keeping the borough safe.
The cabinet set two key objectives for adult social care throughout the pandemic. Firstly, to keep our residents safe and secondly to keep as many care services going as possible. The council’s social care team has responded brilliantly.
Diane Wake, chief executive, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, said:
Covid-19 has been the biggest challenge of our lifetimes and I have been immensely proud of how our colleagues in social care have responded to support us in delivering the best health and care services for Dudley people throughout this pandemic.
We had to clear all of our beds in the hospital to ensure we could cope with the surge of very poorly patients we were seeing and social care stepped up and made sure patients were discharged safely and quickly.