Projects

Palliative Response Team: Increasing Compassionate Discharges (ComD) Success

Project Categories

Care Continuum

Platform

National Healthcare Innovation and Productivity Medals

Cluster

National University Health System

31 December 2024

Set up a transitional care program to support patients wishing to die at home and form a multidisciplinary team for seamless. The program increased the number of ComDs, improved patient satisfaction, and saved costs by reducing hospital stay lengths and.

Year Submitted: 2024
Published Date: 31 December 2024

Tags: Care Continuum, End-Of-Life Care, Palliative Care

About this Content

Aims

Set up a transitional care program to support patients wishing to die at home and form a multidisciplinary team for seamless discharge processes.

Background

The gap between patients wishing to die at home and the actual number of home deaths was large. Lack of after-hours support from hospice services led to delays in discharge.

Methods

Established the Palliative Response Team, provided after-hours support, enhanced the discharge process, and involved a multidisciplinary team to coordinate patient care.

Results

Successfully increased compassionate discharges (ComD) from 1% to 7.4%, reduced average length of stay by 3.5 days, and avoided significant healthcare costs.

Conclusion

The program increased the number of ComDs, improved patient satisfaction, and saved costs by reducing hospital stay lengths and avoiding additional bed requirements.

Lessons Learnt

Collaboration across disciplines and adapting to patient needs are crucial in overcoming challenges in compassionate discharge services.

Additional Information

National Healthcare Innovation & Productivity (NHIP) 2024 – Excellence Champion (Care Redesign category)

Keywords

Palliative Care, Compassionate Discharge, End-of-Life Care, Multidisciplinary Team, Cost Savings

Innovators' Details

Healthcare Cluster(s)	National University Health System
Organization(s) Involved	Alexandra Hospital
Platform(s)	National Healthcare Innovation and Productivity Medals
Healthcare Professional Group(s)	Ancillary Care, Nursing, Pharmacy
Applicable Specialty or Discipline	Palliative Medicine
Project Lead(s)	Tan Li Ping
Project Member(s)	Nur Sa'idah Binti Jalani Radin Nur Faridah Binte Ali Tan Poh Hoon Myint Myint Than Theresa Heng Kelly Lai Siti Raihana Binte Mohamed Shariff Janet Lam Yong Woon Chai Thi Phuong Tu Pham Golda Wang Irene Chen

Connect with this contributor!

Tan Poh Hoon - Poh_hoon_tan@nuhs.edu.sg

Project Attachment

C_401_AH_NHIP_2024_Palliative_Response_Team_Increasing_Compassionate_Discharges_ComD_Success.pdf