Red Bag scheme relaunched in Croydon
The Red Bag Scheme is designed to improve the experience for care home residents admitted to hospitals across the country by ensuring that health care workers have the information they need to provide the right care to the residents. The scheme also serves to improve communication between the care home and the hospital.
Under the Red Bag Scheme, when a patient is brought into our hospital in an emergency, they have a Red Bag with them that contains:
- General health information, including any existing medical conditions
- Medication information so that ambulance and hospital staff know immediately what medication they are taking
- Personal belongings (such as clothes for day of discharge, glasses, hearing aid, dentures, or other items)
The Red Bag follows the resident's journey from care home to hospital and back to their care home. The scheme has been shown to reduce the length of hospital stay, and stops patients losing their belongings. The Red Bag also clearly identifies a patient as being a care home resident and provides hospital staff with the information they need to speed up clinical decisions.
We are also promoting the use of E-Red Bag on the Hospital Transfer Pathway. The E-Red Bag is the electronic version of the paper documents contained in the Red Bags.
Hospital-based Red Bag Coordinator
We have partnered with an appointed Red Bag Coordinator who is based in the Woodcroft Wing, Yellow Zone at our hospital. The coordinator is the first point of contact to resolve any issues with the Red Bag Pathway, such as loss of the bag or information missing in the bag.
Would you like to know more about this scheme and how you can get involved?
If so please contact:
May Naing
Red Bag Coordinator
07725202953
See poster here: RedBagPoster (1).pdf