Use of contract occupational therapy services to facilitate early discharge from hospital

Early discharge is one of the new frontiers for occupational therapists. Casemix funding, with its emphasis on creating efficiencies in the hospital system and reducing length of stay, has challenged occupational therapists to explore new ways of providing traditional services. An early discharge scheme administered by the Gold Coast Hospital occupational therapy department used contract occupational therapists to provide home visiting services to patients discharged early from hospital. The first year of the programme demonstrated a cost‐efficient and quality service provided to 124 patients in the categories of stroke, social admissions and falls. The present paper documents the administration of the programme plus the cost benefits and outcomes of the first year of the scheme.