The Day Hospital has made strides in providing quality care for Bermuda’s outpatients, according to Dr David Harries.Dr Harries, BHB Chief of Geriatrics, Rehabilitation and Palliative Care, yesterday told the Hamilton Rotary that he was extremely proud of the progress made by the programme.Established in 2006, the Day Hospital was created to help patients return to independent living, giving patients who require therapy an alternative to hospitalisation.“While the inpatient services are highly organised and very efficient, unfortunately once people have been discharged the services have not been organised in the same way,” Dr Harries said.He explained that before the Day Hospital, patents that suffered strokes or other injuries requiring ongoing rehabilitation would have to repeatedly return to the hospital.“It was a very inefficient way of using resources. It was a user unfriendly way for patients to get their therapy,” Dr Harries said. “About five years ago we started with the Day Hospital. The idea is that we have the same therapists, but they are all in the same space.”Rather than booking treatment based on the schedule of the therapists, the Day Hospital allowed specialists to evaluate what treatment is needed, and organise it in the way that better suits the patient.On average, he said patents spend six weeks visiting the facility, generally coming twice a week. While the majority of patients at the Day Hospital are seniors and stroke victims, he said that the unit can cater to people as young as 18.He said the centralised system allowed the team to develop new programmes aimed at tackling the various issues suffered by patents.One such group is the Stay Steady group, aimed at helping people avoid falls, which can be extremely dangerous for the elderly.Other programmes are aimed at identifying and treating the early stages of Alzheimer’s and the recovery of patients who have suffered heart attacks.“It’s a very compact team and we have the ability, like the international space station, to bolt on extra bits,” Dr Harries said.“There is no reason we can’t expand the day hospital beyond that.”