The RCP welcomes the report from the National Audit of Intermediate Care. The audit, devised by clinicians and commissioners, measures the service provision of intermediate care against standards derived from Department of Health guidance.
The DH defines intermediate care as ‘a range of integrated services to promote faster recovery from illness, prevent unnecessary acute hospital admission and premature admission to long-term residential care, support timely discharge from hospital and maximise independent living’.
Dr Kevin Stewart, clinical director of the RCP’s Clinical Effectiveness and Evaluation Unit, and a member of the audit’s steering group, said:
We are grateful, at the RCP, to have had the opportunity to support this important piece of work. Intermediate care services can reduce the need for older people to go to hospital and can aid their recovery and help speed their return home. While the audit has found some areas which have excellent services there is a worrying variation in provision across the country and between services. Well-resourced intermediate care services are likely to improve the care and experience of frail elderly people and be more cost effective than some current provision.
For further information, please contact Hannah Bristow, Clinical Standards communications officer, on +44 (0)20 3075 1447 / 07584 303 784 or email Hannah.Bristow@rcplondon.ac.uk