Nursing home placement improves

The number of patients from Woy Woy Hospital placed in nursing homes increased by just under 20 per cent, from 197 to 236, in the past year.
At the same time, the length of stay of patients awaiting nursing home placement decreased by just over 18 per cent from 34.9 days to 28.4 days.
The improvement was revealed in Central Coast Health's annual report for last financial year.
Admissions at the hospital stayed relatively constant at 837 for the year as opposed to 865 for the year before.
Occupation rates were 95.9 per cent of beds for the year, up from 92.3 per cent for the previous year.
The report reviewed the operation of Woy Woy Hospital, stating that "Woy Woy Hospital provides non-acute and outpatient services".
"Facilities include a 33-bed general unit, a 30-bed rehabilitation unit, outpatient and hydrotherapy services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech pathology, nutrition and social work."
In comparison, Gosford Hospital has 457 beds.
Woy Woy has 61 full-time staff members.
Major goals for the year for Woy Woy Hospital included improving occupational health and safety, developing best practice models of care in aged care and rehabilitation and improving access for staff to the latest health news and information.
According to the report, the outcomes of attempting these goals were manual-handling training for all staff at the hospital to ensure the ongoing safety of staff and patients.
The hospital also undertook a research project with the War Memorial Hospital in Sydney to look at the proportion of nursing time spent in documenting and communicating clinical information in an aged care setting.
"This will provide a baseline from which further studies can be undertaken and benchmarking can occur with other similar services throughout NSW," the report stated.
During the year refurbishment of the rehabilitation unit and an upgrade to the water reticulation system and hydrotherapy pool were completed.
Some of the refurbishment in the rehabilitation unit included painting, new flooring and a workstation and conference room for staff.
All computers in the hospital were also upgraded.
Bathrooms were refurbished and an additional diversional therapy room and outdoor area were built.
Woy Woy Auxiliary raised $24,000 for the purchase of a shower trolley, weigh chair, nebulisers, three wheelchairs, prints and items for the viewing room in the morgue.
"The Auxiliary's effort are to be commended and are greatly appreciated by patients and staff," the report said.
The hospital will now start planning to upgrade the general unit facilities and improve signage and parking for easier access by the community.