Concern expressed of re-admission rates and deaths after initial discharge at the RBH

Cllr Andy Morgan, Hulton Ward councillor and Chairman of Bolton Councils Health Scrutiny Committee, today expressed concern at re-admission rates and deaths after re-admission within 28 days of original discharge at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

Hundreds of people every month are being re-admitted to the Royal Bolton Hospital within days of being sent home.  But bosses at the trust last night defended their re-admission figures, which showed an average of 326 people were back in hospital every month last year, within 28 days of being discharged.  And 254 patients of the 3,916 re-admitted in an emergency after discharge over the year died in hospital.

The statistics came to light after the government announced it would no longer be paying hospitals for treating people re-admitted within a month of being sent home.  Health Secretary Andrew Lansley hopes the proposal will save cash and encourage hospitals to only discharge patients when they are fully fit.

Hospital chiefs in Bolton say they already have stringent procedures in place.  Heather Edwards, head of communications, said: “We recognise that more people are being re-admitted to hospital than we would like, however there can be a number of reasons why this happens.  “Our audits have found that in the majority of re-admissions at the time we decided to discharge, it was clinically appropriate.

“There are some patients who are well enough but then have another episode or a complication. Other people may sadly be towards the end of their life and are brought into hospital to die when in fact they could be cared for elsewhere.

“Re-admissions are not just about hospitals but also about the whole infrastructure of care and how we can support people in the community.”

The hospital says re-admissions have been one of its target areas, with work including involving patients, relatives and more medical staff in discharge plans and monthly monitoring of the issue at board level.

This is set to continue with more work on providing patients with better information when they leave hospital and working with NHS Bolton and the primary care trust around care in the community.

Mrs Edwards said: “We have already been working to reduce re-admission rates and welcome the proposal to integrate our hospital services with community services as it will help with this issue.”

Cllr Morgan said “The Committee has been looking at re-admissions statistics for some considerable time and will continue to do so.  The fact that around 1 in 5 deaths at the hospital happen within 28 days of initial discharge then re-admission is a concern and we have asked for more data before taking this issue further. "

"Although the initial view would suggest that some patients may be being discharged prematurely we believe that the Transforming Community Services Strategy will hopefully result in a more streamlined and joined up service between the hospital, GPs, District Nurse Teams and Social Services which will improve the situation.”

Basis of article appeared in the Bolton News on 10th June 2010.  Please see following link:  http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/8211497.Hundreds_re_admitted_to_Royal_Bolton_Hospital_every_month/

Posted by:  Andy Morgan 0930hrs 10.06/10