HSJ Value in Healthcare Awards 2017: Improving Value in the Care of Frail Older Patients

Bradford Teaching hospitals and its partners have developed an innovative and ambitious project to move care closer to home, whilst also enabling more patient-centred care.

The Bradford Virtual Ward began in 2012 as a discharge-to-assess model, relying from the outset on working together across organisational boundaries of health and social care teams. The team is multidisciplinary, comprising therapists, qualified nurses, advanced nurse practitioners, rehabilitation support workers, local authority colleagues and consultant geriatrician input.

In 2015 the team developed an integrated hub with partners, and new pathways taking direct referrals from community matrons, GPs and local ambulance services. Within hours, on any day of the week, the hub can escalate community support, initiate rehabilitation-at-home, or directly admit to community hospital rehabilitation or a nursing home flexi-bed.

Multiple hospital admissions have been entirely prevented, and length of stay in hospital further reduced. Bradford Teaching Hospitals is now in the top 5 per cent of trusts across the country for shortest length of stay.

More importantly the trust has also demonstrated significant improvements in patient quality of life and high rates of patient satisfaction.

Judges said this was an excellent example of highly functioning integrated health and social care service. Its multiskilled team including social care staff used clear data to demonstrate improvement in quantitative data and patient experience.

Read the full story about Bradford at HSJ Solutions.

Highly Commended was Prime GP plc. Read its story here.