Amnis’ advice on acute care: the transfer of care process is key

Patients who tie up acute care beds but who might be better treated in a community setting create an additional ‘organisational cork’ on the effective flow of patients through hospitals claims the specialist healthcare quality, innovation and productivity improvement enabler, Amnis.

A recent study, carried out over 16 weeks, identified over 1,500 days in one NHS Trust alone when acute beds were occupied by patients who would have been better off in a sub-acute setting.

When these problems are added to the already difficult length-of-stay problems in acute care, it is not surprising that some organisations have to hold bed crisis meetings three or four times a day.

Mark Eaton, managing director of Amnis, explained: “Focusing on the whole transfer of care process is key to improving the overall flow of patients.

“In our experience of enabling organisations in the healthcare sector to operate more productively and efficiently, the problems do not seem to be easing over the medium to long term,” he pointed out. “However, it is possible to achieve transitory short term gains by speeding up discharge - but at the risk of increasing readmission rates.

“The effective use of beds is directly related to an effective flow of patients into and out of the organisation,” Eaton said. “This can only happen when healthcare organisations work together - and when they have the courage to invest in fixing the issue rather than simply patching over it.

“Without coordinated thinking across whole health economies and the development of some internal capability - both in terms of having the time to fix the problem and generating the necessary skills - all that will happen is that organisations will lurch from one crisis meeting to the next.”

For more information, visit Amnis at www.amnis.uk.com, email info@amnis.uk.com or call 0870 446 1002.

End

About Amnis Limited

Working with both public and private sector organisations, Amnis is a consultancy which specialises in innovation, transformation and organisational improvement, helping clients plan and deploy strategies for successful transformation. Its goal is to help clients not only deliver sustainable change but also to develop their capability to tackle their next challenges.

Providing both consultancy and training services, Amnis’ team includes specialists in Lean/Six Sigma, organisational development, strategic planning, change management and systems thinking.

Further information from:

Ruth Bodman, Amnis, 00 44 (0) 870 446 1002; ruthbodman@amnis.uk.com
Bob Little, Bob Little Press & PR, 00 44 (0)1727 860405; bob.little@boblittlepr.com