A new approach to treating patients at home rather than in hospital is going from strength to strength with people delighted with the service.
Called Hospital at Home, it treats people where they live, if it is safe to do so, with visiting health professionals and remote monitoring devices, including video conversations with our consultants.
It sometimes makes better sense to care for people away from wards, as they can recover faster and it reduces the risk of them becoming weaker, lying in a hospital bed for hours.
More and more patients are using the service and reporting a really good experience.
One patient, Dawn Hopkinson, from Bury, has been cared for twice by the Hospital at Home programme. Most recently, the team came out to her home when she suffered an episode of supraventricular tachycardia, which is where the heart starts beating faster than normal.
She said: “I genuinely feel fortunate to have the opportunity to receive care in the comfort of my own home.
“The hospital setting can often be intimidating, with the risk of infections and the overwhelming cacophony of busy wards, especially when I’m feeling unwell.”
She added: “Being monitored and treated in my own space not only allows me to relax and feel at ease, but it also grants me profound peace of mind, knowing that I am under the watchful care of highly skilled nurses and health professionals. Their expertise provides reassurance, and I can focus on my recovery without the disruptive environment typically associated with hospitals.”
Jude Adams, Northern Care Alliance’s chief delivery officer, said: “The drive to deliver high quality care to patients in their home, overseen by our expert clinicians, is fantastic for both the patient and those who are in need of an acute bed in hospital. It’s a win-win and our challenge in 2025 is to keep-up the momentum.”
The Hospital at Home service is available for patients across Bury, Oldham Rochdale and Salford. In December 2024, 85% of the 350 available beds at home were being used, compared with 65% a year earlier.