HOME FIRST Last year, a new Home First service was piloted within the Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust with the aim of discharging patients in a safe and timely manner to allow them to recover in the comfort of their own homes. Fiona Dexter and Evelyn Assiak are two of the OTs involved with the Home First service and here they outline the reasoning behind this service and share the success of the pilot
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vidence has shown that people recover from physical or mental ill health quicker when they are able to recover in their own familiar environment. This wealth of evidence shows increased length of stay and delayed discharges are not helpful to an individual and can at times be damaging. Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust proposed and piloted the Home First service to provide a service for older people. The similar Discharge to Assess pathway has been utilised in the physical setting of health, but it has not been explored as readily within a mental health setting. Home First is essentially part of a Discharge to Assess approach, supporting patient flow and providing up to four weeks post discharge occupational therapy intervention to patients on acute later life wards to support earlier and safer discharge.
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-magazine.co.uk
Using the Winter Pressures Fund initially, the pilot was set up for three months. Unfortunately, the time taken to recruit staff to be seconded and “backfill” into their substantive posts, and the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulted in the pilot not commencing until January 2021 and being extended to five months. The Home First pilot covered East Sussex, Brighton and Hove, and West Sussex, and spanned the later life, functional, and acute mental health wards.
PURPOSE OF HOME FIRST Home First began by identifying patients on the ward who may benefit from the service and those who could work with the ward OT and staff to complete relevant assessments. The aim was to build rapport with the individual and work with them to identify support needs
