Authors (including presenting author) :
CHEUNG GCM, CHAN BKS, Chung RKF, WOO CW, CHAU RMW
Affiliation :
Physiotherapy Department, Kowloon Hospital
Introduction :
The healthcare system of Hong Kong has been greatly challenged since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. The emergency response level was activated in public hospitals on 25 January 2020. The infection control measures were raised again on 7 July 2020 to combat a wave of pandemic. Health resources has been diverted in order to respond to this public health emergency. A better understanding of change in patient characteristics helps improve service matching within the limited resources and therefore enhance the resilience of the healthcare system to handle this mega-challenge.
Objectives :
To compare the characteristics of high risk elderly referred for PT under ICDS under the COVID-19 pandemic and to re-scope service provision accordingly
Methodology :
Retrospective review on data of ICDS patient characteristics referred for physiotherapy from February 2019 to October 2019 and February 2020 to October 2020
Result & Outcome :
Total 182 cases(N=182) were reviewed. The age of group of year 2020(80.7±7.7) was slightly younger than that of year 2019(81.3±8.2). The HAPPRE score was lower in 2020(score=0.26±0.13) than in 2019(score=0.27±0.13). For functional outcome, the Modified Barthel Index(MBI) was similar in 2020(score=82.3±26.0) and in 2019(score=82.3±19.7). Comparing new cases number, there were sharp drops in February(N=5 in 2020 and N=19 in 2019) and July(N=2 in 2020 and N=17 in 2019). The data analysis showed that the COVID-19 pandemic posed a negative impact on patient source of ICDS, without much effect on age and functional level. This might imply the pandemic made greater variation on the service need of post-discharge community care against time, which was essential in nature. In view of stringent resources of HA during the pandemic, this review supported the contemporary service model with “less to achieve more” principle to enhance operational efficiency of the healthcare system and facilitate safe discharge and community maintenance.
