NHS launches new hospital admissions model

The Department of Health has announced that the NHS has launched a new model of hospital admissions aimed at better equipping doctors with the means to identify patients suffering from chronic conditions who may be at risk of unplanned hospital admissions.

Under the combined predictive model, a number of data sources, including accident and emergency, in and outpatient reports and GPs records will be converged to identify patients that often use hospital services, in order to prevent or reduce patient deterioration through early intervention.

Rosie Winterton, health minister, noted than the increasing age of the population results in a rise in demand on the health service.

“Many PCTs [primary care trusts] are adopting case management approaches as a means of ensuring the most vulnerable people receive fully joined-up health and social care and have person-centred care planning,” she said.

The combined predictive model builds on the patients at risk of re-hospitalisation tool launched last year, using a larger and broader amount of data to deliver better care for patients and reduce the number of emergency bed days.

Last week, the NHS reported that waiting lists were at 769,000 patients, the lowest figure since records began in September 1987.