Kent, Surrey and Sussex Integrated Care Systems (ICS) identified the prompt discharge of patients once medically fit as a high priority. The prompt discharge of patients is clinically safer while enabling capacity for planned and unplanned admissions. This project was funded to explore how D2A is being delivered across three case sites in Kent Surrey and Sussex to understand the enablers and barriers to delivery through the perspective of all stakeholders involved.
A new discharge to assess (D2A) programme was funded and introduced as a mechanism for improving the appropriateness of long term care needs following discharge from acute care.
D2A aims to reduce acute length of stay by moving the point of detailed assessment for ongoing care from the acute hospital into the community with the full assessment 4-6 weeks post discharge, allowing for a period of rehabilitation prior to assessment of long-term need within a more suitable environment for the assessment to take place.
This project evaluated discharge to assess across Kent Surrey and Sussex. Through a mixed method approach, encompassing case study design, the project provided rapid insights through the duration of the project (16 months).
The evaluation:
- Evaluated the impacts, capacity, processes, and barriers to the delivery of D2A pathways across primary care, community services, voluntary sector, social care and other stakeholders.
- Evaluated the experiences and outcomes of patients and unpaid carers of the D2A pathways.
- Developed a tool to facilitate ongoing practice led evaluations of D2A pathways, encompassing outcome and process measures identified from the project’s findings.