Over the next few months we are sharing the ways we are reducing demand on our services by helping patients to access the right care in the right place at the right time.

Acute Hospital at Home (AHAH) enables patients to receive the same treatment and rehabilitation that they would receive on a traditional hospital ward from the comfort of their own home. It is one of the ways we are reducing demand on our services and helping patients to access the right care in the right place at the right time.

The AHAH service runs across both our Eastern and Northern services.

It helps to avoid admission to a physical bed in our hospitals and facilitates earlier discharge from hospital. This helps us to provide the best possible care to our patients in a place most suited to their healthcare needs.

If you are referred to our service, you will receive the same care, monitoring and treatment that you would from an acute hospital bed or from a local community service, but from the comfort of your own home.

Who can be referred?

You may be referred to our service if you have one of the following:

• Heart failure 
• Atrial fibrillation and other arrhythmia 
• Acute kidney injury 
• Infection requiring Outpatient Parenteral Antibiotic Therapy (OPAT)
• Syncope (fainting or passing out)
• COPD and other respiratory conditions
• Acute difficulties relating to frailty
• Certain surgical conditions
• Palliative and supportive care

How does it work

• Our multidisciplinary team will monitor you at home using the latest digital health techniques, which includes smart phone apps, technology platforms and wearable medical devices, such as blood pressure machines and pulse oximeters.
• The team will also check in with you by phone call, and where appropriate some face-to-face care may be given by a multidisciplinary team based in your local community or our dedicated ambulatory areas. 
• Your progress will be discussed daily with our consultant and your progress closely reviewed, and you will be advised of any changes to your treatment plan.
• If things change and you feel worse, or if your readings do not look right, you may be asked to come back into the hospital. Where necessary, we can then readmit you to our acute hospital services. The aim is that you will be safely discharged to your GP on completion of your care.

Our team, which includes doctors, nurses, pharmacists, physiotherapists and clinical support workers, will be in touch with you on a regular basis throughout the day, and can be contacted 24 hours a day.

You can learn more about our AHAH (virtual ward) and how virtual wards work in this video:

Why is our AHAH service important?

We know that being treated in your own home can have a hugely positive impact –you can continue with your daily routine and make choices about what you can eat and wear, with the people you know and love around you. There is good evidence that patients on virtual wards have better outcomes than those treated in hospital.

Acute Hospital at Home is part of a wider shift towards delivering more care at home or in community settings, helping patients receive care in the most appropriate environment while ensuring hospital services are available for those who need them most.

Carlie Hopper, Lead Nurse, Acute Hospital at Home/Virtual Ward said “Acute Hospital at Home enables patients to receive the care they need in the comfort and familiarity of their own home, avoiding a hospital stay where appropriate. Being at home can help patients return to their normal routines more quickly, maintain their independence, and often provides a more positive overall experience.”

As members of staff we find it an incredibly rewarding service to be part of. We care for a wide range of patients and see first-hand the difference this approach can make, whether that’s helping someone return home sooner or preventing a hospital admission altogether. It’s very encouraging to receive such positive feedback, with 94% of patients finding our service to be good or excellent in the last quarter.”