Is there an upside to the tight bed occupancy situation in public hospitals?
A recent ST article "The upside to hospital bed crunch" (13 Apr 2010) said that integrated care has been given a boost with the need to ease pressure on beds. With an ageing population, we certainly need to do more to step up integrated care with community hospitals, nursing homes, home nursing and community self help groups. The key thing is to ensure that patients receive appropriate continuing care after their discharge from hospitals. This will ensure that the needed bed is freed up for someone who needs it more, and at the same time enable the patient who is well enough for discharge to return to the comfort of their homes. In this video, Staff Nurse Esther provides a look at what goes on at a nursing home.