A think tank has revealed research which states that the NHS could save approximately £250 million a year from taking early action to prevent patients with common conditions from being admitted to hospitals.

The report by the King’s Fund states that the NHS is not doing enough to reduce the number of  “ambulatory care-sensitive conditions” (ACSCs) such as asthma, flu, diabetes, angina, dehydration, gastroenteritis and ear, nose and throat (ENT) infections.

As these conditions can be managed by patients themselves or with GP help, it is thought that the NHS are allotting unnecessary resources to such admissions. The report states that patients should take more responsibility to manage conditions such as diabetes or asthma, and actively seek flu jabs and GP input as early as possible.

High levels of admissions for ACSCs are often thought to indicate poor co-ordination between different elements of the healthcare system, in particular between primary and secondary care. The report states that regardless of whether an episode of care is well managed, an emergency admission for an ACSC is a sign of the poor overall quality of care.

Anna Dixon, the King’s Fund director of policy, said that simple steps need to be taken by care settings to reduce ACSCs. As 30% stem from over 75’s, much of which is attributable to dehydration, care home and community staff should actively ensure that patients have enough fluids. Similarly, Dixon states the NHS should make more use of “virtual wards” where instead of being referred to a hospital, a patient remains at home under the care of a multi-disciplinary team that provides care mainly by telephone.

The study reveals that there were 5,135,794 emergency admissions to hospital in England in 2009-10, with approximately 6% (816,433) for ACSCs. ACSCs cost the NHS an estimated £1.42bn that year – 11.6% of the total £12.2bn cost of all emergency admissions. It was also revealed that the number of admissions from ACSCs varied significantly over different areas of the UK.

It is thought that taking steps to reduce the number of non-emergency admissions could make a significant impact upon the £20 billion savings target which is to be reached by 2015. The Department of Health has stated that the savings should be made under the Quality, Innovation, Productivity and Prevention (QIPP) programme and not simply through service cuts, which this initiative would achieve.

Original Source The Guardian

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