[F]ewer mental health service users are being sent out of county, thanks to improvements that have been made to the way patients are assessed and admitted to acute inpatient wards.
The process – known as the Acute Admission Pathway (AAP) – has been shortlisted for a prestigious Health Service Journal Award for the second year running.
Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has been recognised nationally for reducing the number of patients sent out of county for acute inpatient treatment, from 33 in 2014/15 to 5 last year (2016/17). During the same period, the total number of nights spent out of county has reduced from 238 to 16.
Dr Doug Maisey, Clinical Director and Consultant Clinical Psychologist, said: “By changing the way we work and streamlining our processes, we can ensure service users get the care they need without spending additional time in an inpatient unit. It means more service users are receiving treatment closer to home, near to their families, and benefiting from improved review meetings, one to one consultations and more time spent with healthcare staff.”
Andrea Greenwood, Senior Network Manager for the mental health care group at CPFT added: “It’s a great honour to have the hard work of our teams recognised at national level – especially for the second year running. It shows what a difference the improved service is making to people requiring an admission to hospital, and for them to be in hospital closer to home.”
The initiative has been shortlisted in the category of Acute Sector Innovation. Some of the team involved in the service will be presenting to a panel of judges on Monday 2nd October, before the winners are announced at the Health Service Journal Awards on Wednesday 22nd November.
