Reducing emergency hospital admissions: a population health complex intervention of an enhanced model of primary care and compassionate communities

Background Reducing emergency admissions to hospital has been a cornerstone of healthcare policy. Little evidence exists to show that systematic interventions across a population have achieved this aim. The authors report the impact of a complex intervention over a 44-month period in Frome, Somerset, on unplanned admissions to hospital.

Aim To evaluate a population health complex intervention of an enhanced model of primary care and compassionate communities on population health improvement and reduction of emergency admissions to hospital.

Design and setting A cohort retrospective study of a complex intervention on all emergency admissions in Frome Medical Practice, Somerset, compared with the remainder of Somerset, from April 2013 to December 2017.

Method Patients were identified using broad criteria, including anyone giving cause for concern. Patient-centred goal setting and care planning combined with a compassionate community social approach was implemented broadly across the population of Frome.

Results There was a progressive reduction, by 7.9 cases per quarter (95% confidence interval [CI] = 2.8 to 13.1, P = 0.006), in unplanned hospital admissions across the whole population of Frome during the study period from April 2013 to December 2017, a decrease of 14.0%. At the same time, there was a 28.5% increase in admissions per quarter within Somerset, with a rise in the number of unplanned admissions of 236 per quarter (95% CI = 152 to 320, P<0.001).

Conclusion The complex intervention in Frome was associated with highly significant reductions in unplanned admissions to hospital, with a decrease in healthcare costs across the whole population of Frome.