New virtual hospital wards prevent admissions

A hospital-at-home service run by Hertfordshire NHS trust is “making a big difference” for both patients and the NHS, says the trust.

Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust said it was working with the “virtual ward” company Doccla to “provide hospital level care in patients’ own homes”, with patients provided with technology so they can be monitored at home.

Dr Elizabeth Kendrick, medical director of the trust, said the service prevented hospital admissions and enabled earlier discharge.

Doccla provides patients with equipment to record their observations, such as blood pressure, which could then be sent back to a health professional.  Patients are also asked to complete questionnaires and if a “red flag” was raised, by either the questionnaire response or an observation reading, a call could be made to the patient.

Dr Kendrick said the service was “really great” as “patients do better at home.”

She added “The patient feedback is amazing.  People want to be in their own homes where they’re surrounded by their own things, eat their own food and sleep in their own beds.”

Martin Ratz, founder of Doccla, said that for every £1 spent on the service, the NHS saved “3.  He acknowledged that the service may not be suitable for everyone, adding “This is for those patients that don’t need to be in hospital and can be treated at home instead.”

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Posted by Karen Motley, Clinical Negligence Department, Chadwick Lawrence LLP (tonymay@chadlaw.co.uk ), medical negligence lawyers and clinical negligence solicitors in Huddersfield, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, West Yorkshire.

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