Parc Taulí adopts a new model of psychiatric emergency care that has finished waiting for patients pending hospital bed

• March 2, 2017
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In the first two months of operation of the new program, a pioneer in Catalonia, the hospital admission of 20 psychiatric patients has also been avoided.

Mental Health Parc Taulí launched, on December 12, an innovative program promoted by the Catalan Health Service (CatSalut), aimed at improving the care of people with acute mental disorders in the Psychiatry Area of ​​the Service of Emergencies, which has been a great success in its first months of operation: it has ended the waiting for patients pending hospital bed and, in the first two months of operation, has prevented the admission of 20 patients to the plant of Psychiatry.

At the head of the new model of care is the Mental Health Crisis Intervention Team (EIC-SM), made up of two new psychiatrists, a nurse and a nursing assistant, who care for patients on the same devices. of Emergencies and of the Hospital of Day of Mental Health of Adults, that has extended his schedules in the afternoons to be able to give coverage to this new program.

Alternative hospitalization to conventional admission

The program allows better continuous care in the Emergency Department and, in some cases, offers the patient partial hospitalization as an alternative to conventional admission to the plant, but also guaranteeing intensive, specific and personalized specialized care. In this way, some patients remain hospitalized for a few hours a day in the Day Hospital device, but sleep at home. The resource is intended to address urgent and serious situations, which are expected to recover in less than a month. To access the program you must rule out personal risks and have a minimum family support that ensures the continuity of home care.

The executive director of Mental Health Parc Taulí, Dr. Diego Palao, stressed that with this model of care is being given "immediate response to the needs of people treated in the Emergency Department, ending the always uncomfortable waiting pending hospital bed ”And, on the other hand, also“ care is being offered that allows to keep the person in his family environment, without an isolation or a complete rupture of his operation, in the line of the models based on the community psychiatry ” .

In the first two months of operation, 20 hospital admissions have already been avoided, which would have had an average stay of 15 days of hospitalization, with the benefits that this entails for the patient and their families. The new unit has 10 places, and in this period has maintained an occupancy of about 80%.

4.700 adult psychiatric emergencies in 2016

In 2016, the Parc Taulí Emergency Service treated a total of 4.700 adult psychiatric emergencies, of which 13% required hospitalization in the Mental Health plant, which has 42 beds. Although the shortage of psychiatric beds in the county persists, the professionals who lead this new program resolve complex clinical situations in a personalized, high-quality manner, which has been highly valued by patients and family members.

The decongestion of the Psychiatry Area of ​​the Emergency Service has also allowed faster access to hospitalization, in cases where there is no other alternative, thus improving the overall quality of care. and also reducing referrals to other hospitals.

Dr. Palao, who does not hide his satisfaction with the success of the program, points out that this is a model that could be exported to other territories and specialties. "The cost-effectiveness and its acceptance by families is much higher than the conventional approach," concludes Palao.

Press release in pdf