The Breatheasy Programme tracks 131 trache children (119 in the home care programme, of whom 26 were living in shacks, 53 in sub-economic houses and 40 in their ‘own’ homes) reveals an 8.18times greater risk of dying in an institution than at home, with trache outpatients only admitted (unscheduled) on average less than once per child per year. The cost-saving to the Children’s Hospital is the equivalent of running 10 hospital wards of 28 beds each for a year. The children no longer have to suffer the proven adverse effects of long-term hospitalisation (e.g. emotional deprivation,cultural isolation and health hazards), while thinly spread and overworked hospital staff are freed of the extra pressure created by often highly active little patients.
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