Care while in hospital

ECL Community Care Assistant supporting a customer to get out of her hospital bed

ECL’s pioneering Ward-led Enablement service provides reablement support while in hospital to help patients get up and moving and working towards their independence goals during their hospital stay.

About the service

Research has shown that bed rest is not the best way to recover from many illnesses and injuries. In fact, mobility can actually increase recovery times.

According to the British Geriatrics Society*, a 10-day hospital stay can cause 10 years’ worth of muscle aging, with older patients spending up to 83% of their time in bed and often a further 12% in a chair.*

ECL’s Ward-led Enablement service works in partnership with NHS Trusts to ensure older patients are supported while in hospital to get up and moving as soon as possible after their treatment to improve their recovery time. Helping them to be as independent as possible during their hospital stay to reduce the likelihood of extended stays and minimise the need for ongoing home care once discharged.

ECL’s team of Trusted Assessors and Community Care Assistants support patients to regain their confidence and independence with personal care tasks such as washing and dressing while in the hospital, so that they are able to do these things for themselves when they return home. If further home care is needed, this care can then be fully focused on helping the individual to achieve specific independence goals.

Ward-led Enablement is currently available in Queen's Hospital, Romford, Essex.

“During my hospital stay I couldn’t walk that much, my pain was too much and my muscles in my leg were weak. However I got better during my hospital stay because the ECL Ward Enablement team helped me with my daily walks. Since being home I have also gotten better and more independent."

Ward-led enablement customer

Do patients need to refer into the service?

No, patients on the wards that our service is available in will automatically be considered for Ward-led enablement care during their stay. Service provision is prioritised based on need.

We are currently partnering with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust and the Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation trust.

What happens following discharge?

The hospital will undertake an assessment to establish the home care needs of the individual before discharge and if further support is needed at home a referred for home care will be made.

Find out more about ECL’s reablement home care service here.

ECL’s reablement service

*Research can be viewed here: https://academic.oup.com/biomedgerontology/article-abstract/63/10/1076/559225?redirectedFrom=fulltext