At University Hospitals of Liverpool Group (UHLG) we are implementing a 'Home First' approach. That means that we want our patients to be able to go back home as soon as possible after they have received the care they need from us and are ready to go home
Home First is everyone’s responsibility
Discharge planning needs to start as soon as a patient is admitted to hospital. We want every patient to have the right care wrapped around them after they leave hospital which is why we need to work in an integrated way.
To support this work the integrated health and social care Programme is in place working alongside system partners.
It’s a Cheshire and Merseyside system-wide programme looking at how we change behaviours, improve systems and optimise how we work for our patients.
Being discharged back home quickly when it’s safe to do so is important for several reasons:
- As well as people wanting to go home sooner, there’s lots of evidence to suggest that staying in hospital longer than needed is not good for patients It can lead to deconditioning and a loss of independence, particularly amongst our older patients.
- When a patient is in hospital for longer than they need to be, it doesn’t just impact them, it prevents us admitting new patients into our bed base when they are acutely ill. This creates pressure in the system.
- We also want patients to be independent and get the right level of care out of hospital - permanent bed based care in the community should be the last resort for patients