Brief description of the project

Unnecessarily prolonged stays in hospital are bad for patients. This is due to the risk of waiting, sleep deprivation, increased risk of falls and fracture, prolonging episodes of acute confusion (delirium), and catching healthcare-associated infections. All of these can cause an avoidable loss of muscle strength leading to greater physical dependency (commonly referred to as deconditioning). NHS Improvement, 2018

The health and care system in Leeds is actively looking to improve system flow with a particular focus on improving outcomes for patients. To do this we’re adopting the principles and ethos of ‘Home First’.

We’ve already done some work in Leeds to promote this ethos both internally and externally. We’re now looking to introduce a comprehensive culture change and associated communication programme. This will offer a consistent message across the system to all our audiences. This is seen as a long-term culture and behaviour change programme.

Who did we speak to?

64 members of the public from Leeds were in attendance at the event. The event was held at Shine, Harehills, Leeds on Saturday 19 October 2019.

What and how did we ask?

To help us develop the long-term communications campaign and behaviour change programme we held an engagement event in October 2019. We wanted to understand what people thought of the whole ethos of Home First – how do they feel about us encouraging people to stay at home for longer or go home sooner? What are their concerns about the approach? And what should be our key messages when communicating what the programme is all about?

What did people tell us?

We’ve now written a report from the event, that provides a summary of the discussions that took place on the day and a summary of the key findings.

What did we do?

We will use the feedback from the event to inform moving forward with the Home First work.