Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T13:19:33.435Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The past and future of geriatric day hospitals

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 July 2009

JH Beynon
Affiliation:
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust, UK
D Padiachy*
Affiliation:
Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Dr D Padiachy, 22 Harewood Gardens, Bournemouth BH7 7RH, UK. Email: [email protected]

Summary

The status of the geriatric day hospital within the National Health Service (NHS) in the UK has changed significantly over the past fifty years. We conducted a literature review starting from the inception of the geriatric day hospital, when it was viewed as the ‘shop front for geriatric services’ and was subsequently replicated in many western health systems, to the present uncertainty surrounding the model in terms of outcomes and cost effectiveness. The article also highlights the input of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatric Society to the management and development of day hospitals. The geriatric day hospital has become one of the many service models under the umbrella of intermediate care services, offering comprehensive geriatric assessment and care to older people in the community. However, with the current practices of commissioning of services and ‘payment by results’, the future of this precious health resource remains uncertain.

Type
Intermediate care and rehabilitation
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Farndale, J. The day hospital in Great Britain. Gerontol Clin (Basel) 1961; 3: 129–32.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Brocklehurst, JC. The geriatric day hospital. London, King's Fund, 1970.Google Scholar
3Brocklehurst, JC, Tucker, J. Progress in geriatric day care. London, King's Fund, 1980.Google Scholar
4Report of the Research Unit of the Royal College of Physicians and the British Geriatrics Society. Geriatric day hospitals: their role and guidelines for good practice. Royal College of Physicians, London, 1994.Google Scholar
5Macfarlane, JPR, Collins, T, Graham, K, MacIntosh, JC. Day hospitals in modern clinical practice – cost benefit. Age Ageing 1979; 8 suppl: 80–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6Brocklehurst, JC. Role of hospital day care. BMJ 1973; 4: 223–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7Donaldson, C, Wright, KG, Maynard, AK, Hamil, JD, Sutcliffe, E. Day hospital for the elderly: utilization and performance. Community Med 1987; 9: 5561.Google ScholarPubMed
8Peach, H, Pathy, J. Evaluation of patients' assessment of day hospital. Br J Prevent Soc Med 1977; 31: 209–10.Google ScholarPubMed
9Anard, KB, Thomas, JH, Osbourne, KL, Osmolski, R. Cost effectiveness of a geriatric day hospital. J R Coll Physicians London 1982; 16: 53–6.Google Scholar
10Berrey, PNE. Increase in acute admissions and deaths after closing a geriatric day hospital. BMJ 1986; 292: 176–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11National Audit Office. National Health Service Day hospitals for elderly people in England. HMSO, London, 1994.Google Scholar
12Hildick-Smith, M. Geriatric day hospitals: changing emphasis in costs. Age Ageing 1984; 13: 95100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13Zeeli, D, Isaacs, B. The efficiency and effectiveness of geriatric day hospitals. Postgrad Med J 1988; 64: 683–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14Stokoe, D, Zuccollo, G. Travel sickness in patients attending a geriatric day hospital. Age Ageing 1985; 14: 308–11.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
15Research Unit of the Royal College of Physicians. Clinical audit scheme for geriatric day hospitals. Royal College of Physicians of London, London, 1994.Google Scholar
16Forster, A, Young, J, Langhorne, P. Systematic review of day hospital care for older people. BMJ 1999; 318: 837–41.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17Forster, A, Young, J, Langhorne, P. Day Hospital Group. Medical day hospital care for the elderly versus alternative forms of care. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2000; (2): CD001730.Google Scholar
18Forster, A, Young, J, Lambley, R, Langhorne, P. Medical day hospital care for the elderly versus alternative forms of care. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2008; (4): CD001730.Google Scholar
19Crotty, M, Giles, LC, Halbert, J, Harding, J, Miller, M. Home versus day rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial. Age Ageing 2008; 37: 628–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20Parker, SG, Bond, J, Jagger, C et al. A multi-centre randomized controlled trial (RCT) of home versus day hospital rehabilitation. Communications to the Autumn Meeting of British Geriatrics Society, 12–14 November 2008, Birmingham.Google Scholar
21British Geriatrics Society. Geriatric (Medical) Day Hospitals for older people. BGS Best Practice Guide 4.4. (accessible at: www.bgs.org.uk).Google Scholar
22Young, J, Forster, A. The geriatric day hospital: past, present and future. Age Ageing 2008; 37: 613–5.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed