| Abstrakt: |
Provision of health services over a seven day period is a key national service agenda and the importance of Allied Health Professionals, including Occupational Therapists, is recognised (NHS England, 2014). OTs in acute care help identify rehabilitation goals, enable participation and facilitate safe and timely hospital discharges. Furthermore, clinical areas, such as stroke and major trauma, also require early assessment and rehabilitation that have financial implications (ISWP, 2012 BSRM, 2014). Finally, feedback from patients and the multi-disciplinary team (MDT) indicated that there was a perceived need for OT throughout the week. Drawing upon principles of change management a seven day OT service was implemented as part of a larger MDT project at St George's Hospital, London, between 2012 and 2014. Initially a pilot feasibility project was undertaken. Following this staff feedback was sought, and business cases developed to obtain both financial and organisational support before a wider staff consultation was undertaken. The resulting weekend service was implemented in phases, regularly seeking feedback to ensure successful implementation. OT is now provided over a seven day period in a number of clinical areas in the hospital, including stroke, neurosciences, trauma, orthopaedics, and A&E with plans in place for staged expansion of services to medical and senior health areas. MDT feedback was positive with benefits of reduced length of stay, and improved team working and patient experience highlighted. Despite changes in working patterns and the challenges of balancing effective team communication, CPD and training with rest days, OTs also provided positive feedback about the service. This project demonstrated that OTs working in an acute hospital setting have an important role to play in rehabilitation and facilitating timely hospital discharges over a seven day period and that with careful, phased implementation a sustainable service can be established. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
