Background Having in the past two and a half years changed our day service delivery from a traditional day hospice to an out-patients supportive rehabilitative care service we wanted to formally measure the outcomes for patients using our physiotherapy and gym programme. Anecdotally patients reported ‘feeling better and fitter’ but this wasn’t fully captured by reviewing their gym programme alone. We hypothesised that in a group of patients with an overall declining picture of health we needed to look at not only their physical condition, but also the potential mental health benefits of exercise. We believed that even if patients were physically declining, we could use the mental health questionnaire results to encourage and motivate patients to continue with their programmes.

Aims Our aim was to pilot a system whereby patients completed an IPOS, identified a goal they wanted to be able to achieve (e.g. ‘to be able to walk to town’) and completed an anxiety and depression questionnaire.

Methods From late 2018, existing and new patients to the gym have completed an IPOS, identified a specific and measurable goal and have been asked to complete the PHQ-9 (Depression) and GAD-7 (Anxiety) questionnaires. Patients are then reviewed approximately every 12 weeks. Results of the review and questionnaires are collated and used to identify not only further physiotherapy intervention but whether the patient would benefit from other parts of the rehabilitation and wellbeing service.

Results We are currently in the process of collating the results of the first six months pilot in conjunction with our audit team. Provisional results appear to show that whilst patients may not show improvement physically, there is a demonstrable improvement in their mental health.

Conclusions The service delivery and outcome measures will be reviewed in accordance with the provisional findings of the pilot project.