Jacinta Ibe and Vincent Icheku
Background: The Joint Emergency Team (JET) sees patients that require assessment and care package within 24 hours of referral in their own home, Accident, and Emergency (A and E) department or the Acute Medical Unit (AMU) at the local hospital. The JET Integrated team accepts referrals from all primary, community, acute and social services. There has been greater emphasis on evaluating JET working and the outcomes, studies show more of the differences in policies and design with little evidence on how the integrated team of health and social service carry their daily work. The purpose of the study is to ascertain how JET interventions can help to avoid unnecessary hospital admissions. Method: The researchers interviewed eight JET professionals taken from Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy and Social Services who have been involved in integrated care for two years. The interview was recorded and transcribed verbatim and a thematic analysis was carried out. Findings: The study found that the Joint Emergency Team provides integrated care using multidisciplinary and Trans-disciplinary team approaches to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions in the Accident and Emergency department, Acute Medical Unit (AMU) and the Community in Greenwich borough. Conclusion: The integrated care provided by JET helps to ensure timely assessment and management of patients in the hospital and community which helps to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions.
