A collaboration that shortens hospital stays while improving outcomes for patients has won an innovation award.
Independent provider, Healthcare at Homes Ltd partnered with the Heart of England foundation trust (FT) to create 'Recovery at Home', a scheme which was selected by an independent panel of judges to win the NHS Partners Network 2013 "Innovation is the name of the game" competition.
The judges believe it demonstrated improved quality of care for patients and financial savings for the NHS through innovation.
A collaboration that shortens hospital stays while improving outcomes for patients has won an innovation award.
Independent provider, Healthcare at Homes Ltd partnered with the Heart of England foundation trust (FT) to create 'Recovery at Home', a scheme which was selected by an independent panel of judges to win the NHS Partners Network 2013 "Innovation is the name of the game" competition.
The judges believe it demonstrated improved quality of care for patients and financial savings for the NHS through innovation.
Recovery at Home was launched in November 2012 at Good Hope Hospital to provide clinical care at home for patients, meaning they can leave hospital earlier but still receive similar levels of treatment.
The primary aim of the service is to deliver improved patient care by enabling safe, early discharge from hospital, while delivering cost savings through the reduction of inappropriate readmissions and length of stay.
The service started as a 26 bed 'virtual ward' and has now expanded to 36 beds covering most care pathways. Since its launch, almost 1,000 patients have used the service, 10,988 bed nights have been saved, cancelled elective operations have been reduced by 43%, the length of stay for medical patients has dropped from 10.8 to 8.6 days, and patient satisfaction with the care they receive is over 97%.
Ruth Poole, group clinical director of Healthcare at Home, said: “We are delighted that our partnership with Good Hope Hospital has been recognised for its innovative approach to delivering the highest quality patient care.
“The service is hugely popular with patients and is leading the way in designing innovative out-of-hospital models of care. The results have been very positive for the hospital and its patients, and we look forward to continuing the partnership."
Dr Mark Newbold, chief executive, Heart of England FT, said: "This is a great example of how an NHS hospital can improve the care of patients by bringing in external expertise through collaboration. Our work with Healthcare at Home is leading to shortened hospital stays, and improved outcomes for patients, and we look forward to developing our partnership further as we plan for the future."
