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Assessment of Dependence in Activities of Daily Living Among Older Patients in an Acute Care Unit
Published on: September 30, 2020
Delayed hospital discharges and the trolley crisis
Conor Burke1, Eamon Dolan2, John Faul2
1Department of Medicine, Connolly Hospital, Dublin 15, Blanchardstown, Ireland. conorresp@gmail.com.
Abstract:
We audited use of acute hospital beds in Connolly Hospital over a 3-month period (January-March 2020) which coincided with increased provision of step-down (nursing home) beds. Our results show both ineffective and inefficient baseline uses of these acute beds. Increased step-down beds improve patient care by reducing the trolley count, shortening average length of stay and reducing waiting lists. These data confirm that more step-down beds are a high priority for our Health Service to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of our hospitals i.e. better care at less cost.
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