We have been developing our service in Manchester and Trafford. This is through exciting collaboration between our community and hospital services in the Local Care Organisation and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, along with partners in social care and primary care (GPs). We’ve moved to a single, easy to refer to Hospital at Home offer for our patients in each area.

Patients can be supported in several ways such as:

• Taking our service to the patient’s home where health professionals, including hospital consultants, advanced clinical practitioners, nurses, therapists, GPs and other staff visit the patient at home to provide assessments and care
• Providing telemedicine support, remote vital sign monitoring and other technology  to monitor patients at home
• Social support; or a combination of these offers.

Like a normal hospital ward, patients remain under the care of Hospital at Home for a period (usually up to a maximum of 14 days). When their care is complete they are discharged back to the care of their GP or a community team.

As well as providing care and monitoring at home, a lot of basic tests that patients need can be carried out in the home like blood tests and ECGs. Hospital at Home also has fast track processes if more complex tests or scans are required for a patient in the service. That’s where patients may attend a pre-booked outpatient appointment for specialist diagnostics, but they will then return home to continue their care rather than be admitted to a hospital bed.

Over 100 patients a day are now supported in this way.

Which patients/conditions can be supported by Hospital at Home?

Hospital at Home focuses on suitable patients with the conditions of frailty, respiratory issues or heart failure (or in some cases a combination of these conditions). These are the national priority areas identified as most suitable for care in this way. However, other acute pathways are also considered by the team and the range is ever expanding.

All patients are carefully triaged (assessed) for their suitability for the service by the team. Referring clinicians can call the team to discuss any patient who they think may not need to be in hospital, or be admitted to hospital.

Which Hospital at Home services are running now?

We have Hospital at Home services covering all of Manchester. The South Manchester team also take some cases from Trafford residents.

Evaluation tells us that for 95% of the cases reviewed, Hospital at Home was the only alternative to an extended inpatient stay. There’s evidence that it’s having a positive impact on the length of stay at the hospitals and that patients who go through the service are less likely to be readmitted. Patient and family feedback on the service has also been overwhelmingly positive.

Service information for patients and professionals

Our service pages have more information on the offers, the team of staff who provide the service and referral information for healthcare professionals.