Keeping care home residents happy and healthy
Good Hydration! is a quality improvement initiative designed by care homes for care homes to reduce urinary tract infections (UTIs) through structured drinks rounds. Developed in partnership with East Berkshire Clinical Commissioning Group, it is now delivering sustained improvements and spreading further afield.
Key outcomes
- UTI hospital admissions reduced by 36% in the four pilot care homes (150 residents)
- UTIs requiring antibiotics reduced by 58%
- The gap between UTIs increased from an average of nine days in the baseline period to 80 days in the implementation and sustainability phase
- One residential home was UTI-free for 243 consecutive days!
- Similar outcomes noted in pilot 2 care homes (215 residents).
This award-winning project has spread beyond east Berkshire and been implemented within Oxfordshire and Luton CCGs. Plans are also underway for adoption through Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire West, Swindon and Coventry & Rugby CCGs.
Latest additions
- Good Hydration! blogpost published by the Malnutrition Task Force, October 2019
- Paper published in BMJ Open Quality, July 2019 – ‘Reducing urinary tract infections in care homes by improving hydration’
Find out more
Follow the links below for more information on the Good Hydration! initiative: