Healthcare Commissioning Forum

Sandwell Community Healthcare Services improved dysphagia management and piloted a community dysphagia rapid response assessment service. Quality was improved by allowing more patients to be managed at home for terminal illnesses, and increasing empowerment for patients, their carers and staff. Productivity has been improved by reducing hospital referrals and admissions.

Acute hospital attendance, length of stay and repeat admissions will be reduced by:
1.   Community rapid response dysphagia assessments for patients at risk of aspiration; and
2.   Training of primary care staff in the management of patients with dysphagia

There are three components to this proposal:

Responsiveness
A rapid response dysphagia service in the community, where urgent patients will be assessed within 4 working hours, reducing hospital admissions
Prevention
Extensive training to community staff to enable frontline dysphagia management 24 hours, 7 days a week long term
Strategy
Develop and implement a palliative feeding Care Pathway to ensure patients with dysphagia related end of life conditions are managed by community services, ensuring patients die in their place of choice whilst they, their relatives and carers feel supported.

For further information please go to : https://arms.evidence.nhs.uk/resources/qipp/29508/attachment