A Virtual Hospital?
Why is it a good idea?
Treating patients at home rather than in hospital has been recognised as having many positive aspects for many years. Evidence supports the view that patients who can maintain their independence, confidence and safety and continue to recover from illness at home – supported by friends and family where appropriate - recover more quickly than those who stay on a hospital ward. They are less likely to suffer from depression, have a fall, acquire an infection or lose confidence about caring for themselves.
It also frees up hospital bed capacity to treat patients who need to be there.
What happens if I have no technology links at home?
The VH team has a responsibility to ensure that the patient or their carer understands the technology that will be used. They will provide adequate training to ensure the patient or their carer is confident in using the technology.
Are there extra costs involved in running the equipment in my house?
The VH team provide fully charged handheld tablets with data that those without Wi-Fi can use free of charge. Battery packs for top up purposes will be available if needed.
If you have any concerns regarding the technology at any time you can speak to the VH team.
Do I have to use this service? Can I refuse to participate?
Each case must be taken on its own merits and the circumstances surrounding each patient and their health condition weighed up carefully by a multi-disciplinary team.
Patients are not obliged to take up this offer and may be understandably nervous at first – there is a long-held view of hospital being perceived as the “best and safest place” for a person who is unwell. However, there is an impressive body of feedback from patients, carers and their families that VH works very well and is preferable to the disruption of a hospital stay. Patients are given plenty of training, advice and support by local teams to understand and engage with what they need to do, where help is available from (a telephone call away), home visits if needed, and how long the programme of support may last or be needed.
Equipment is made available quickly and is returnable at the end of the period of need. Other support services are put in touch with the patient so that their home needs can be met by friends, family, neighbours and community services as necessary.
How can I know if the phone call or visit I am receiving is from the VH team and not from a fraudster?
When the nurses or clinicians call, they will confirm they are from Virtual Hospital and confirm some of your personal information from our system. They may call on a withheld number.
The VH team will never ask for your bank or financial details, or other personal information. They will only ask about your health, which was discussed during the VH onboarding process. If you have any suspicions or concerns, stop the conversation immediately and call the VH team.
Does the VH approach work?
As well as positive patient feedback, taken at all different stages of their VH journey, the progress of patients is also monitored longer term. Patients being admitted to hospital within 30, 60 and 90 days after the end of their VH treatment journey is monitored closely to ensure that any learning about how best to manage the transition from VH back to longer term living patterns can be optimised for all patients. This is reinforced by the careful selection of patients entering VH in the first place – ensuring that they are the right patients for this programme and given every chance of successful health outcomes.
How will my personal information be treated, and will my information be shared with any third parties?
Your personal information will be treated in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) / Data Protection Act 2018. The same data protection standards that you would expect in hospital settings apply.
What next?
As well as expanding the VH resources available to offer more places on the VH programme for the conditions already managed effectively, further work is taking place to consider how best to potentially support children, cancer patients, and patients recovering from surgery. These developments take time and sometimes new investment, but always require the highest standards of collaboration, care and safety to maintain the success seen so far. If you have been a VH patient, or supported someone who has been, please take the time to answer some questions about our service in our survey here:
How does it work in our virtual hospital?
The dedicated VH specialist multidisciplinary team identify individual patients whose diagnosis and treatment plan can be undertaken safely without it happening within the hospital itself.
There is a consultant lead for each pathway and that consultant will lead the care of the patient whilst they are in the virtual hospital. The consultant will manage the patients care through a multi-disciplinary team approach. The patient may speak to the consultant or one of their team members.
Just as in hospital, people on a virtual ward are cared for by a multidisciplinary team who can provide a range of tests and treatments including blood tests, prescribing medication or administering fluids through an intravenous drip. Sometimes, there is a need for you to come on site, for bloods or x-rays and this will be communicated and organised with you.
Patients are also introduced to the concept and talked through how they can be cared for by regular monitoring of their condition from home – using a blend of telephone and digital/technology services, participating in regular feedback calls with their support team and monitoring their condition using equipment that can be easily used at home.
What sort of conditions are being treated in this way?
Since 2022 3700 patients have already been treated through this approach including patients with circulatory/heart failure problems, respiratory/breathing difficulties like pneumonia, post-surgery and frailty are being successfully cared for under this model of care. Each condition is managed differently and is supported by the appropriate clinical practices, as would happen within the hospital ward. Each patient is managed according to their circumstances whether they live alone or within a family set up or care home.
To date the majority of those patients identified as possible VH candidates have either arrived at hospital (in A&E) or have already been treated within a traditional ward – enabling them to go home rather than spend more time within the acute trust.
More recently some patients have been identified within the community – by their GP, ambulance and community nursing teams or other community-based services – without any direct contact with the hospital itself. They have avoided a hospital attendance or admission and remained at home – but treated with the same relevant levels of clinical and nursing support within the VH team as if they were in hospital.
At the end of their treatment programme the patient will be “discharged” back to the care of the GP practice they are registered with all the details of their treatment on their health record.
What support is available for carers and family members?
Each patient’s support network – family, carers, neighbours- is considered by the VH team as part of the initial assessment and engagement or “onboarding” process. Feedback is regularly sought from them to ensure that the day-to-day model of care is working well and, if necessary, can be adjusted with additional resources, advice and guidance.
The hospital understands the pressures placed on carers and offers support through their Caring for Carers service.
For confidential help and advice regarding all aspects of caring for someone please contact the below:
Email - westherts.caringforcarers@nhs.net
or
Phone - 07977 069888 (Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm
