Auditing the community team

Abstract

An audit by members of a community team of hospital admissions of patients seen by the team in one year suggested that 31% of admissions would have been avoided if staff were available for continuous day-time supervision of patients at home, and if it were possible to insist that these patients took prescribed medication. Fourteen percent of admissions resulted from a breakdown in communication, as did some of what were occasionally seen as unnecessarily prolonged hospital stays. However, more than half of admitted patients were thought to have required the intensity of observation and treatment that can best be provided in hospital. The exercise provided useful information to the team, and suggested that a substantial reduction of admissions could only be achieved by increasing staffing levels to enable patients to be supervised during emergencies. Even then a hospital or some other facility offering medical supervision and physical containment would be required for a substantial proportion of the patients who are currently admitted to hospital.