NHS expands technology to treat patients at home

18 hours ago

Phil Harrisonin Gillingham

News image — The virtual ward team at the Medway Maritime Hospital monitors patients 24 hours a day

BBC The virtual ward team at Medway Maritime Hospital gathered in their office — The virtual ward team at the Medway Maritime Hospital monitors patients 24 hours a day

The NHS in Kent is aiming to further expand the roll-out of technology to allow more patients to be treated at home rather than in hospitals, freeing up ward beds to those most in need.

The Medway Maritime Hospital (MMH) in Gillingham recently expanded the acute virtual ward service to a 24-hour virtual hospital with capacity increasing from 80 to 120 virtual beds.

Tracy Stocker, director of operations at MMH, has pushed for the expansion of the technology so staff can cover a wider range of medical issues.

Patients like Elliot Hall from Gillingham, who was admitted with double vision, said: "I'm slowly getting better and the virtual treatment beats being in a hospital bed."

Tracy Stocker, Director of Operations at Medway Maritime Hospital, standing in front of a whiteboard in the virtual ward office — Tracy Stocker is the director of operations at MMH

The scheme is based out of an office at MMH staffed by health workers who carry out the same roles they would on the main hospital ward.

The aim is to increase the scheme's capacity to 200 virtual beds.

Lovett Achiatar, a smart medical registrar at MMH, said her patient rounds covered the same points as if she were doing them in a hospital.

"I'm able to talk to them via video message, monitor blood test results and look at live observations such as heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and oxygen saturation," she said.

She said they had seen "better outcomes" for virtual patients compared with those in hospital beds because they were able to "maintain independence at home".

Virtual ward doctor consults with discharged patient Elliot Hall via videocall at Medway Maritime Hospital — The virtual ward team at Medway Maritime Hospital care for and monitor patients from home

Lead smart pharmacist Folake Olafare said patients were monitored every hour of the day.

Not all of the virtual ward tasks are carried out remotely though, smart nurse practitioner Precious Chukwuma regularly visits patients to administer antibiotics using containers which release the drugs at a controlled rate.

"It means that they can put them into a bag and remain mobile," she explained.

"Some of my patients go to the the shops with their containers when otherwise they'd be in a hospital bed for a course that could last up to six weeks."

Nakai Redman, Operations Manager at SECAMB Ashford standing next to an ambulance in the make ready bay. Two ambulances are jacked up in the background with maintenance being carried out — Nakai Redman, operations manager at Secamb Ashford, says the technology has brought "the whole NHS together"

The hospital-at-home technology is also being used to help the frail and elderly elsewhere in the county.

Kent Community NHS Foundation Trust, based in Ashford, offers a service where patients can choose to have their treatment in the comfort of their homes.

In the South East Coast Ambulance Service control room, a consultant geriatrician is also on hand to assess live observations from first responders to remove some 999 calls from the ambulance service priority list.

Operations manager Nakai Redman said the scheme had brought "the whole NHS together as rather than it being just community, ambulance and hospital, we all work as one so we can deliver the right type of care where patients need it".

Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.