Page 119 - Hospital Authority Convention 2017

Service Enhancement Presentations
Service Enhancement Presentations

F1.1 Better Manage Growing Service Demands 10:45 Room 421

Discharge Lounge – Proactive Model to Success
Chan R, Ho B, Chan SP, Chung TK, Tung M, Wong E, Lo S, Chan HS, Wong TF
Central Nursing Division, Hospital Authority Head Office, Hong Kong HOSPITAL AUTHORITY CONVENTION 2017
Introduction
Access block has always been an issue in Prince of Wales Hospital (PWH) due to insufficient inpatient bed capacity especially
during winter surge period. Lack of beds early in the day was a major cause for delayed admission, which in turn placed the
Accident and Emergency Department at risk of overcrowding and diversion. The implementation of Discharge Lounge (DCL)
aims to improve patient flow and discharge efficiency since 2015. Continuous improvement was done to increase utilisation
and improve service quality throughout these years. In 2017, by incorporating past experience and ongoing feedback from all
stakeholders, further enhancement was performed to provide better patient service and increase capacity.

Objectives
(1) To speed up discharge process so as to reduce inpatient bed hours during winter surge period; (2) to provide a better
environment and quality services for discharged patients while waiting home/for transfer.

Methodology
This programme consists of various dimensions of initiatives which are summarised as follows:
(1) Expand service capacity from 12 sitting places to 18 sitting places.
(2) Provide new recline chairs and two wall-mounted televisions to enhance patient comfort and safety.
(3) Increase manpower to enhance the capacity of case screening in wards and have better quality of nursing care and Tuesday, 16 May
patient education in the waiting room.
(4) Reengineer the patient flow and workflow by consolidating the screening process of “Dual Channel” to boost its
effectiveness and efficiency.
(5) Intensify the work of promulgation among departments and clinical staff in various communication platforms, such as
meeting and forum.

Outcomes were evaluated in various perspectives which include daily collection of admission data in DCL for statistical
analysis in which comparison of attendance rate with previous years were made. The inpatient bed hours were calculated;
and patient satisfactory survey was also conducted for all attendances.

Results
Up to 31 March 2017 (62 work days), the average number of attendance was 14.1 patients per day. There was a significant
increase when compared with the same period last year with an average of 4.8 patients per day more than that of 2016.
Statistically, significant difference was noticed in the number of attendance over 2015, 2016 and 2017 with one-way ANOVA
(F=133.9, p<0.05). In view of bed management, 2129 inpatient bed hours were saved just from January to March of 2017. This
has been increased by 48.3% when compared with the same period of last year. Moreover, 96.1% of attendants showed
satisfaction with the DCL services. In conclusion, the DCL is effective in reducing inpatient bed hours and providing quality
care to patients while waiting for discharge.

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