'Hospital at Home care was great after my stroke'

A woman who was given hospital-level care in her home after a stroke has said the service was "great" and enabled her to recover.

Jean Collier, 87, was eligible for the Hospital at Home scheme run by Sheffield Teaching Hospitals for the over-65s.

Consultants, pharmacists, nurses and therapists can all be assigned to make house calls to prevent unnecessary hospital admissions, and the project has now been expanded to offer more services.

Collier said: "I would say to anybody, if you are offered this service, take it. I can't fault the care I've received."

The great-grandmother spent four days in hospital after her stroke before being discharged with new medication to treat her high blood pressure.

But within two weeks of returning home, her legs had swollen so much she found it impossible to get her shoes on or walk without constant, burning pain.

After abnormal results on kidney and fluid retention tests, her GP was considering sending her back into hospital but decided to give the Hospital at Home service a try.

It was introduced in January 2023 and has supported more than 2,000 patients to date.

The range of treatments has been expanded to include intravenous procedures which can now be performed in the patient's own home.

The adoption of remote clinical monitoring technology has widened the scope of the service and the ways that people are referred has also been increased.

Collier said she was assessed the very next morning.

"They came every day for six days to make sure I could get about and was safe, and they did a check on me every day with the hospital doctors."

She received specialist care for her kidney function, which had dropped to 20%, and was given water tablets to reduce the swelling - all without needing to go to hospital.

"The Hospital at Home is a wonderful team, the staff were so kind and caring. I'm so glad my doctor gave them a try. "

As part of the service, patients get rapid home-based assessments and can be fast-tracked for diagnostic tests, like CT scans, as day case patients, without the need for an overnight stay.

Sarah Jenkins, deputy medical director for Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and lead for the service, said the initiative built on research that shows elderly patients recover more quickly and effectively in familiar environments.

She added: "Staying at home will also reduce the travel burden for patients, families and carers, saving time and cost, whilst also freeing up beds for other patients who do need to be in hospital."

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