In 2015, there was a limited access to speech pathology services for residential aged care facility (RACF) residents in the Coffs Harbour region. This resulted in increased hospital admissions, including swallowingrelated conditions. The aim of the project was to reduce the number of RACF residents admitted to hospital with a swallow-related diagnosis by 65 per cent over seven months.
The project initiated a dedicated, intensive swallowing service which gave timely access to appropriate intervention for RACF residents.
The initiative resulted in a 79 per cent decrease in acute admissions from 3.6 to 0.9 per month, improved patient satisfaction, reduced average bed/days and cost savings.
