Case study:

28 September 2007

Development of a tool for patient needs assessment – The Admission Assessment Integrated Care Pathway (AAICP)

Key points

Over 40 hospices are now using a tool designed to make a holistic assessment of patient needs on admission.

The Admission Assessment Integrated Care Pathway provides an evidence-based template, which documents patients’ demographic information and assesses their holistic needs across the physiological, social psychological and spiritual domains.

The tool was originally developed by St. Ann’s Hospice and then disseminated to other hospices through two national study days and a workshop.

One of the main challenges was to persuade separate disciplines to relinquish and share their individual patient assessment processes and documentation.

A comprehensive education and training programme has helped create a sense of ownership within the multidisciplinary team.

An audit of the AAICP shows there have been high levels of completion.

The Help the Hospices patient needs assessment group recently approved the tool as an example of best practice to be made freely available for adaptation and implementation in UK hospices.

Future versions of the tool will now be made available to all registered users.

A one-day workshop is planned later in the year to support organisations in training for, and implementing, the AAICP.