02 Jun 2011
By: NG WAN CHING
Despite having to look after her bedridden father after he was discharged from hospital, life is now easier for Madam Choo Lay Yan when he needs medical care.
That care comes right to her doorstep.
Her father, Mr Choo Thiam Hock, 80, suffered a stroke in September last year and was at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) for five weeks.
Madam Choo, 50, told Mind Your Body: “The doctors at TTSH could not discharge him as he had fever on and off. It was also not practical because he would have to be taken back to the hospital whenever he had a fever.”
Then her father was referred to a post-discharge service called Post Acute Care At Home.
Launched by TTSH in December 2008, the programme is for patients who have been discharged but still require rehabilitative or nursing care.
The aim is to provide care that makes the transition from hospital to home seamless, said a TTSH spokesman.
“Patients can arrange with doctors, nurses or therapists to visit their home for consultation or therapy sessions,” she said.
The team is also able to collect samples such as blood to be despatched for testing.
The scheme is winning over TTSH patients, with more than 200 opting for it in 2009 and more than 300 last year. In the first four months of this year, 173 patients have signed up.
This kind of transitional home care is increasingly being provided by hospitals in recognition of how there is no place like home.
Patients and their caregivers are happier as this reduces their transport costs. Such programmes also cut down on hospital admissions and visits to the emergency department. As a result, medical expenses are reduced.
At Singapore General Hospital, home-care services have been available since 2002. They were revamped in 2007 and brought under the newly formed family medicine department.
Said the head of the department, Associate Professor Lee Kheng Hock: “The service is to help a patient’s family cope. Usually in the first few weeks, they find it hard to do so.”
Other hospitals here provide similar services.
Madam Choo is grateful for the TTSH service as she no longer has to take her father to hospital for medical reviews or therapy.
The first TTSH home visit – which lasted more than an hour – came a week after he was discharged in October.
“They did a regular medical review on him, took his blood pressure and checked that he was all right,” said Madam Choo, a homemaker and mother of two.
She reckons each visit saves her at least half a day of her time.
“If I had to take him to hospital, I would have to call for an ambulance as he is immobile,” she said.
At the hospital, they would have to wait to see the doctor and then to collect the medication.
Now, the doctor and nurses come to her house at a stated time and she pays no more for the service than if she had to take him to the hospital.
“The ambulance costs $70 and a doctor’s consultation costs $40 to $50. Each visit under the programme costs us about $115,” she said.
Said Dr Ian Leong, the head and senior consultant at the department of continuing and community care at TTSH: “Frequently, how a carer copes with the needs of the patient at home determines to a large extent how well the patient manages at home.”
Mr Choo was discharged from the programme in February this year after 14 visits by the team, which also included an occupational therapist.
It was a smooth transition for Madam Choo. She is also secure in the knowledge that she can always call the hospital for help should she need it in the future.
Email: wanching@sph.com.sg
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