Process changes

South Tees has had a CCG commissioned falls service since 2007 and has had significant year on year growth in referral rates. Despite this, the team have operated on the same resource and the service had become reactive rather than proactive.

Proposed key outcomes of the review were: A mapping exercise of existing services against NICE guidance was used to identify areas for improvement which created an opportunity to review the current service with a view to develop a system-wide approach to falls prevention.

• Reduced falls and injuries
• A region-wide falls pathway
• Coordinated, individualised risk assessment and interventions
• Improved partnership working

Within our consultant led ICU follow up clinic we recognised that there were an increasing number of patients presenting with on-going physical and psychological problems relating to their stay. Many of these patients reported lack of access to longer term rehabilitation and psychological support.

The purpose was to develop a specialist therapy pathway for patients following an intensive care stay; to improve physical and psychological outcomes, and the overall experience and support for patients and families.

Aspects included working towards;

• Specialist Supported discharge home.
• Joint handover of care and on-going support to community teams
• 3 month review in line with NICE guidance.
• Provision of MDT rehab class.
• Capacity to provide hydrotherapy in the future.
• Development of MDT follow up clinics
• Psychology support with specific reference to ICU and critical illness

Beyond – Establishing a Virtual Post ICU Rehabilitation Class

The COVID-19 pandemic forced us to rethink how we could deliver Post ICU support and ensure rehabilitation needs of those leaving ICU were met.

The redeployment of staff during the first wave allowed us to pilot a virtual Post ICU rehabilitation class.

The Greenwich Pulmonary Rehabilitation (PR) Service consists of 0.1 WTE team lead, 1.0 WTE band 6 split between 2 part time staff, a fixed term 3 month contract band 5 physiotherapist and 1.0 WTE rehab assistant.

The driver behind the project was to address the issue of the suspension of our face to face supervised PR classes (4 sessions per week at local leisure centres) during the COVID pandemic. With a mounting waiting list and an expectation that we would not be able to return to business as usual, we had to adapt.

Our primary objective was to design a programme that was effective, safe and that patients would enjoy.

A secondary objective alongside the Oxleas QI team was to increase patient completion rates over a 3 year period.

Current completion rates for the Greenwich Pulmonary Rehab programme was low at 40%.

The end point of the project was to be able to confidently offer increased patient choice on how to access PR.

There is an ongoing national challenge to manage patient drop out rates, which are multifactorial in nature. The redesign and delivery of a virtual programme could address problems such as: difficulties travelling to the class, poor weather conditions and psychological challenges where patients feel unable to leave their home to attend.

The Occupational Therapy (OT) service at Leicester City Council (LCC) faced some difficulties when they were working with a person who required Physiotherapy (PT) input in the community. Namely the long waitlist for input and an inability to establish a person’s baseline level of mobility when this was needed before recommending care packages, equipment or adaptations. The impacts on LCC were an increased need for formal care, equipment and adaptations as well as increases in OT staff’s workloads and/or delays in picking up new cases. Additionally, the cost to the person is highlighted as delays in accessing PT input can lead to further deterioration in their abilities (dependence) and/or the need to wait longer for equipment/ adaptations which may put them at risk.

Decreased activity levels as well as earlier sport specialism in paediatric populations are leading to an increase in number of patients with traumatic ACL rupture. ACL repairs are preferred due to evidence of adverse long term outcomes with conservative management. Therefore, the demand for ACL reconstruction rehabilitation is increasing. Additionally, high re-injury rate (29%) in adolescents post reconstruction surgery has been documented. In order to provide optimal evidence based rehabilitation and prevent re-injury in these patients the ACL Pathway was created. This service evaluation investigates the effectiveness of the pathway since it was implemented 18 months ago.

With a national picture of a shortfall of qualified nurses and continued NHS cost improvements, Sheffield teaching hospitals wanted to test using Integrated wards to scope new models of healthcare for the future. Aiming to be cost efficient, whilst delivering high quality care to patients and creating an improved working environment for staff. The project looked for ways to share skills and work more closely between the therapy and nursing professions, to avoid duplication, deliver the care patients need in a timely way and optimise time for each Profession to give their expertise to the patients who need it.

Stroke and brain injury-survivors have difficulty controlling muscles and in many cases, 'tightness' of muscles called spasticity. Spasticity is often painful, akin to muscle-cramp. It can limit mobility and independence and cause distressing complications of contractures, skin breakdown and pressure sores.

The aim of this work was to development a preliminary model 'goal-Directed and person-centred Rehabilitation (Direct-Rehab)', to link clinical decision making for patient centred treatment, with the goals and process of treatment. This requires a focus on linking physical rehabilitation treatments (often in combination with pharmacological treatments such as botulinum toxin) to person-centred goals.

Prehabilitation is enhancing a patient's functional capacity before surgery, with the aim of improving postoperative outcomes, and should include medical optimization, physical exercise, nutritional and psychological support. Prehabilitation prior to vascular surgery has been recognised in the more recent GIRFT report [2018] .We developed a prehabilitation programme for patients awaiting AAA repair at a tertiary referral vascular centre with a high number of patients undergoing aortic aneurysm surgery

Obesity is a growing problem in the UK affecting all areas of the NHS, with over a quarter of all adults falling into this category. The additional risks and co-mobidities that obesity is linked with leads to a high number of hospital admissions.

The multidisciplinary teams working with these people require appropriate knowledge and skills to deliver safe and effective care, with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (2014) recommending that staff be appropriately trained to use specialist equipment when working with this complex group of people.

Research has shown that interprofessional team working can play an important part in improving patient safety. This report details the process an interprofessional team have undertaken to develop a simulated bariatric scenario as part of the learning materials that complement practical moving and handling sessions for undergraduate students.

Falls with minor injury are common within the ageing population and a common cause of fragility fractures. Following a fall many older people suffer a loss of confidence and reduction in independence and reduced function. Older people admitted to hospital following a fall may also experience further challenges such as hospital induced disability and deconditioning as a result of admission. SPPOT, specialist paramedic, physiotherapist and occupational therapist service was developed to provide a specialist intervention for the assessment treatment of people over the age of 65 who fall at home with the aim of reducing conveyance of this group to the emergency department.