A recent paper published in the BMC Health Services Research journal evaluated the implementation of a new Care Home Innovation Programme (CHIP) to reduce potentially avoidable hospital admissions.

The research team invited 32 care homes with 1,314 beds in South Sefton, Merseyside to sign up to CHIP which was launched in April 2015 which continued until June 2018. They found that “in comparison to the 12 months prior to launch, over a four-year period, implementation of the CHIP resulted in a 15% reduction of emergency calls, and in a 19% reduction of conveyances to hospital”.

The full paper is available at:

Clarissa Giebel, Debbie Harvey, Asangaedem Akpan and Peter Chamberlain (2020) Reducing hospital admissions in older care home residents: a 4-year evaluation of the care home innovation Programme (CHIP), BMC Health Services Research, 20, 94.