On Monday 20 February, the Red Bag Scheme (often known as The Hospital Transfer Pathway) was introduced to east Surrey care homes, to improve the experience for residents admitted to hospital.
East Surrey care home residents admitted to hospital in an emergency will now have a red bag with them displaying their name, care home contact details and essential items including:
- General health information, including any existing medical conditions
- Medication information, so that ambulance and hospital staff know immediately what medication they are taking
- Personal belongings (such as clothes for day of discharge, glasses, hearing aid, dentures, or other items).
The red bag ensures that hospital and community healthcare professionals, GPs and paramedics can clearly identify a patient as being a care home resident and provides them with the information they need to speed up important clinical decisions.
The bag follows the resident's journey from care home to hospital, and back to their care home following discharge from hospital.
Evidence has shown that the scheme, which has launched in other areas of the country, is helping to reduce hospital stays due to smoother discharge processes. Care home and hospital staff can now engage in hospital discharge conversations early on and the scheme gives hospital staff a better understanding of the residents’ care needs.
Sarah Cosmos, First Community’s Nurse Advisor for Care Homes worked with local care homes to launch the scheme across east Surrey and said, “I’m delighted that the red bags are having such a positive impact across east Surrey and it has really helped to speed up communication between various healthcare professionals. Having our patient’s health information in one place has really helped to reduce the number of phone calls and follow ups we need to make.
“It also gives patients that extra reassurance, at such a worrying time, to know that their belongings are safely stored away.
“Having vital patient information readily available in one eye-catching place has really made a difference to both care home residents and hospital colleagues, and I’m proud to have been involved with launching the scheme across east Surrey.
“A huge thank you to First Community’s Nurse Advisor Team, colleagues at East Surrey Hospital and all the care homes across east Surrey for embraceing the rollout of the red bags and ensuring a smooth transition.
“I’ve received extremely positive feedback from colleagues working at East Surrey Hospital, with several members of staff sharing their delight straight away via work WhatsApp groups.
“I’m delighted that care home liaison paramedics working for South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAmb) are also helping to promote the scheme amongst their crew members too.”
It’s important to note that the Red Bag Scheme is not intended to label people, take away choice or dignity in any way. It aims to support professional relationships between care home and hospital staff and promotes a good experience for the patient; to ensure they get the right care, in the right place, at the right time.
The introduction of the scheme also supports First Community’s Green Plan, which aims to reduce our carbon footprint and deliver care in a more sustainable way.
As part of efforts to reduce our environmental impact, First Community has set goals to minimise waste and duplication both internally and in the wider NHS. The red bag scheme is a perfect example of this as it prevents the need for hospital pharmacies to provide our patients with their regular medication preventing unnecessary duplication and reducing pharmaceutical waste.
You can read more about the Red Bag Scheme here: https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/redbag/