Introduction of the Productive Ward: Releasing Time to Care to Programme. Introducing the programme to a Care of the Older Person Unit

摘要

Recent times have seen changes within the healthcare sector providing residential services for older people. The publication the Residential Care Standards by the Health Information and Quality Authority in 2009 was followed by the advent of inspections to ensure compliance with standards. The public residential units then commenced a major journey of change which ultimately led to the improvement in quality of environment and care in many of the facilities. The change did not come easy and resulted in a number of staff leaving the service. The overall aim of this project was to improve the quality of patient care and the staff work environment through the introduction of the Productive Ward Programme. The writer conducted a broad literature review, much of the literature had its foundations in the NHS where the programme was developed initially. The author also reviewed literature from other countries and despite the potential for bias in some cases, evidence was available of the possible benefits to be gained from introducing such a project. The planning, development and implementation phases were guided by the HSE change model with staff involvement at each step of the change process. The toolkit supplied as part of the programme was used to gather data with other tools being developed and employed to assist in evaluating all aspects of the project. The project timeline allowed for the introduction of two foundation modules of a much larger programme, the results obtained provided positive feedback on the programme and will be used to guide the continued introduction of further modules.