The project, led by researchers at Bristol and the BNSSG Integrated Care Board, will look at ways to improve how patients move through the health system.

Researchers will analyse routinely collected hospital data to shed light on what happens when patients leave hospital to enable evidence-based conversations between health and social care professionals and patients on post-discharge support.

The ‘Improving Patient Outcomes with Discharge Decision Support’ (IPODDS) is one of two new studies aiming to design better pathways for patients leaving hospital. 

The second study, led by researchers from the Universities of Exeter and Bath and the BNSSG Integrated Care Board, will use computer modelling to simulate hospital discharge pathways for patients with complex needs. 

In this ‘Improving Patient Flow between Acute, Community and Social Care’ (IPACS project, the software tool, which is already in use in BNSSG, will be rolled out across health systems in the South West. It will help hospital managers estimate things like bed occupancy, the number of patients with a discharge delay, the number of days waiting for discharge and total system costs.

From March, both projects will use data held within the new NHS Secure Data Environment for the South West. These two pilot projects are the first to use the platform, which is being developed to the highest security standards.

Read the full University of Bristol news item

Please visit the South West Secure Data Environment website for more information.