Improving the qualify of
rehabilitation services provided to inpatients and outpatients in the NHS
ForthValley: collaboration between AHP Bellfield Centre Research Team and
Orthotics Team at Stirling Health and Care VillageBackground
Rehabilitation
services play an essential role in enabling a better quality of life for
people with long term conditions, illness and disabilities. In order to
achieve the best outcome possible, collaboration between different
professionals is of paramount importance. Various teams in the NHS Forth
Valley are composed of different professionals such as the AHP Rehab Care
Group in NHS Forth Valley, while other professionals belong to different
teams and communicate by email, phone and referrals.
Objectives
To provide a new vision for the future and
improve the quality of rehabilitation in the NHS Forth Valley
To explore different methods of
interprofessional and interorganisational collaboration
Design
Mixed
method: audit and qualitative questionnaire.
Participants
Members
of Allied Health Professions (AHP) Bellfield Reach Team during the Covid-19
outbreak at Stirling Health and
Care Village in the NHS Forth Valley.
Methods
Two
audits were carried out to compare the number of inpatients in a
rehabilitation ward seen by an Orthotist during two periods: March-June 2019
when Orthotics provided an inpatient referral service to the team, and
March-June 2020 when an Orthotist was embedded in the rehabilitation MDT. Inpatient
attendances were obtained from an electronic patient management system (PMS).
In addition, rehabilitation staff were invited to complete a questionnaire in
July 2020 comprising open and closed questions. This focussed on staff
experiences of Orthotics inpatient provision, as well as their aspirations
for future inpatient rehabilitation services.
Selection criteria
The two
audits were collected, and they reported the number of inpatients in the
Bellfield Centre who had been seen by the orthotic service during Covid-19
outbreak compared with the same time period in 2019.
A
questionnaire was developed and administered to the Bellfield Reach Team
members working in the Bellfield Centre at Stirling Health and Care Village during Covid-19 outbreak.
Data collection and analysis
One
person independently designed and developed this quality improvement project.
Two Audits were conducted, collecting
data from the PMSs (Trakcare and Morse) and a temporary spreadsheet used
during the reorganisation of diary templates in Trakcare.
Main results
11
participants completed the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 55%. Five
physiotherapists, four occupational therapists, one speech and language
therapist and one therapist assistant practitioner completed the
questionnaire. Important differences were noted when analysing and comparing
the two audits and questionnaires. Improvements in communication, knowledge,
timescale, referrals and quality of patients’ care were seen. Findings were
statistically significant. Participants described how to improve the service
and their vision for the future of AHPs Rehabilitation Care Group, Bellfield
Reach Team and Orthotics Team.
Conclusion
The
results of the questionnaire and audit indicate that during redeployment
period there was an improved knowledge and skills among members of the
Bellfield Reach Team at Stirling Health and Care Village, as
well as improved communication and multi-disciplinary team working.
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