Connecting every stage of the health and care system is key to improving patient outcomes and reducing waiting times. This is the call in a new paper examining the challenges and causes of poor patient flow, including some of the solutions to help people manage their own health more effectively.
Today the Bevan Commission, Wales’s leading independent health and care think tank, launches Chain Reaction: Managing patient flows across health and care systems and services. The paper highlights seven key stages affecting the ‘flow’ of patients across various parts of the system and suggests how, by thinking differently and using resources more prudently, we can improve care and reduce pressure on services.
Chain Reaction has been published as an independent, evidence-based contribution to futureproof health and care and to address the urgent, system-wide challenges impacting patient experience, staff wellbeing and sustainability of services. Tools including telehealth, digital medicines, virtual wards, social prescribing and a timely response to falls all play a vital role in improving system flow.
Bevan Commission Director Dr Helen Howson said: “Health and social care services are facing huge demands and we know that we are only going to face even bigger pressures. The population in Wales is living longer, but more unhealthily. We are seeing a doubling of the over-90s and an increase in dementia.
“We believe that health is a shared responsibility, extending beyond the NHS, to include local government, workplaces, people and communities. Preventing unnecessary admissions into the system and enabling people to better manage their own health and wellbeing will be critical to help reduce demand for clinical services.
“We are pleased to share this paper as a platform for improving effective patient flow across the system, preventing unnecessary interventions and delays through partnership, collaboration and shared accountability. We urge stakeholders to work together to improve more integrated care and flow for patients across different parts of the system, improving outcomes for all.”
The report argues that efficient patient flow should happen across seven connected components: resilient and resourceful people and communities; primary and community care; social care and care homes; urgent community support, 111 and transport; emergency and minor injury care; outpatient, diagnostic and assessment services; and hospital assessment, treatment and discharge. Transformation is needed to avoid simply redirecting a ‘pinchpoint’ from one part of the system to another.
The paper also suggests that prevention and early intervention are essential to reduce the number of people relying on formal care services. Effective community support includes programmes such as Education Programmes for Patients (EPP) Cymru, which helps people living with long term conditions and their carers gain the information and skills to better manage their own health.
Where people do need formal care, the paper sets out that patient voices are integral to help co-design services to best meet their needs. Real-time data and digital solutions are key to ensuring joined-up care pathways and strong communication between care teams to improve decision-making and patient outcomes.
Dr Howson added: “This paper highlights the interdependencies of all parts of the system and the impact of one upon the other. It reinforces the urgency for whole system planning and transformation, built around patient needs. By connecting every part of care, we can reduce inefficiencies, improve outcomes and better meet the evolving needs of people now and in the future.”
You can read the full Chain Reaction report here and a summary here.
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