As part of the JPUH’s ongoing Red2Green campaign a number of new leaflets are being given to patients and their relatives to raise awareness of the initiative.
Red2Green aims to ensure no one stays in hospital for longer than they need to. It’s recognised that most patients want to go home as soon as they are able to, as any stay in hospital can be stressful. Red2Green puts patients at the centre of care, encouraging them to ask questions such as ‘when can I go home?’ and ‘what needs to happen before I go home?’.
Staff at the hospital work to challenge any delays in the care pathway and to help patients to keep as much of their mobility as they can during their stay. Simple things like encouraging walking and dressing patients in their own clothes can prevent deconditioning - and associated issues such as muscle weakness, increased confusion or disorientation and poor digestion - and help on the journey towards discharge. This allows patients to get home more quickly and to maintain patient flow through the hospital.
The initiative was initially trialled on our Short Stay Medical Unit and proved successful, with the average stay for a patient going from 10 days down to six. The project has now been rolled out across the hospital and the new leaflets will be given to inpatients and their families.
The ‘Let’s keep moving’ leaflet for patients addresses the myths about moving and explains what staff will do, what they will help you to do, and what your family and friends can do to help.
The ‘Let’s keep moving’ postcard gives more information for relatives, carers and friends about how they can assist.
The Red2Green postcard encourages patients or their carers to ask four questions to promote understanding of patient care, progress and when they may get to go home.
Deborah Chapman, Project Manager overseeing Red2Green, said; “The campaign is all about ensuring our patients are supported to get better, so they can return home as soon as they are able to, and that we reduce the issues caused by immobility. Ten days of bed rest for a person aged over 80 ages the muscles by ten years, so getting patients up, dressed and moving whenever and wherever possible helps to reduce the likelihood of deconditioning.
“Staff at the hospital have been working hard to embed the principles of Red2Green and these new leaflets will help spread the word to patients, their families and other visitors about what the initiative means for them.”