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Reducing hospital admissions from care homes: considering the role of a local enhanced service from GPs
- Authors:
- BRIGGS Daniel, BRIGHT Les
- Journal article citation:
- Working with Older People, 15(1), March 2011, pp.4-12.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Since the 1970s, the number of private and voluntary care homes for older people have risen dramatically, with the NHS now playing a minor role. However, in some areas where there is a concentration of care homes, GPs have expressed concern about their capacity to provide an effective service to residents without additional resources. Some primary care trusts (PCTs) have since responded by making funds available to enable an improved service to be established. This article looks at the impact of one local enhanced service on the work of GPs, care staff and residents in a London borough. Eight home care professionals and three GPs where interviewed to reflect on elements of the current practice, the efficiency of processes, and offer suggestions to improve the services provided. Three key themes emerged: working relationships and communications; service efficiency; and residents’ experiences. Overall, findings suggested that positive working relationships were integral to communication, which affected the level of service efficiency and quality.
Notes on the end of life: the social interactions between patients, carers and professionals
- Author:
- BRIGGS Daniel
- Journal article citation:
- Quality in Ageing and Older Adults, 11(2), June 2010, pp.35-46.
- Publisher:
- Emerald
Using data from the findings of an NHS primary care trust funded consultation examining the quality of end of life care services in a London borough, this paper reports on social interactions between patients, carers and professionals during end of life care. The project used ethnographic methods (open-ended qualitative interviews and observations) with 50 residents, of whom 30 were patients and 20 were carers, examining their knowledge of services, experiences of services with which they had contact, the efficiency of those services, and suggestions for improvements. The author discusses the findings on patients' and carers' views of end of life care services, how emotions and social relations develop between patients, carers and professionals, and the resulting complex social relationships between patients, carers and professionals as a result of their experiences of those services and as a consequence of the emotional suffering that they endure through the process, concluding that the consultation found some good aspects to end of life care but that there was still room for improvement, and setting out some implications for practice.