Ward teams at the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust are taking new approaches focused on returning people over 65 home quicker, giving them the best chance of making a speedy recovery.
People living with dementia who need emergency care are also now being treated on a ward specially designed for them – one of only a handful of its kind nationwide.
The work is part of a programme called ‘Discharge Integration Frontrunner’, which has seen different ideas for improving care tested. It launched in 2023, has won three national awards and is now improving lives in Salford.
Why is this happening?
Statistics show that the longer older people stay in hospital, the bigger the risk of them getting weaker, never making a full recovery and going into a care facility.
To prevent this happening, teams at Salford are focused on keeping people as active as safely possible, as well as making sure arrangements are in place for them to return home as soon as they can.
Patients are encouraged to get dressed and get out of bed, as well as move around themselves. A team of sports science graduates is helping with this work by touring wards to support people to retain their strength with gentle exercises.
The workforce also speak to them about their lives, what is important to them, what support could be in place to look after them at home and checks are made on whether someone could be returned home earlier than first thought.
The results
In its first year, this approach saw 7,000 patients return home sooner than they would otherwise would have.
The new dementia-friendly ward at the Royal Salford Hospital has seen beds removed to create an activity room, giving patients the chance to socialise with others while painting or making ceramics. Feedback from family, carers and the workforce has been very positive.
Lindsey Darley, Frontrunner’s programme director, said:
“The success of this work is testament to how the workforce has grasped the opportunity to create and implement new ways of working which help older people, those living with dementia, families and their carers.”
What’s next
The Frontrunner work is also being rolled-out across the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust’s footprint, which also covers Bury, Oldham and Rochdale. The Oasis Unit at Rochdale Infirmary is dementia-friendly and inspired similar wards at Bury and Salford.
The programme has been led by the Four Localities Partnership, which brings together teams across the NCA, as well as adult social care departments from the four local authorities, the voluntary sector and Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust and Greater Manchester Mental Health.
Find out more about the Frontrunner programme
