In the first 12 months, 313 bed days were saved with childhood asthma related symptoms with 45 General Practices supporting the new home-based care pathway.
The ACE (Ambulatory Care Experience) Service provided an alternative to hospital referral or admission for children and young people with common acute illnesses. With safety assessments in place, the wheezy child pathway was the first ACE clinical service launched by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in 2017 in collaboration with GPs and the CCG.
The ACE services are delivered by fully trained nurses in the patient’s own home. After assessment, short and long-term management plans are put in place. The nurses are supported by the on-call consultant paediatrician based in the hospital who takes full clinical responsibility for patients in a ‘virtual ward’. Cases can be referred to the service from Primary Care, as well as the A&E and Children’s Clinical Decision Area from the hospital. In the first 12 months, 273 referrals were accepted and 313 bed days were saved with primary care referring the majority of cases (61%) from 45 different GP practices for asthma-related symptoms.
Within 18 months, the service has managed 515 referrals including for the wheezy child and gastroenteritis pathways and the croup service with expansion to new clinical pathways including jaundice and bronchiolitis.
· ACE gastroenteritis pathway care bundle
· ACE wheezy child pathway care bundle
· ACE croupy child pathway care bundle
· ACE jaundice pathway care bundle
· ACE bronchiolitis pathway care bundle
The ACE service is now informing developments in the newly formed West Yorkshire Paediatric Ambulatory Care Network.
