BMJ 2000;320:1077 ( 15 April )

Letters

Evaluation of hospital at home scheme

    Despite study's positive findings the scheme faces financial constraints
    Another study found that patients prefer home care to hospital care

Despite study's positive findings the scheme faces financial constraints

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR---I am the researcher who managed the randomised controlled trial of the Leicester hospital at home scheme. 1 2 Perhaps the following details will explain why I did not feel a sense of achievement when the results of our study were finally in print.

For 18 months a team of dedicated nurses cooperated with a research protocol demanding that access to their service would be random. They, and I, persevered because we believed (and were told) that the continuation of the service depended on evidence. Poorly, frail people who preferred to be nursed at home were randomised to hospital. At times, when successive referrals were randomised to hospital, the staff had to cope with the frustration of being on duty and having no patients.

Results from the trial suggest a safe and cost effective alternative to hospital. Despite these encouraging findings the Leicester hospital at home scheme is currently faced with . . . [Full text of this article]
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