Hospital at Home

The East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) is piloting a new approach that will see patients getting the help they need more quickly.

New ways of integrated working and new digital systems have been put in place to allow ambulance referrals to be sent directly to urgent care response services, such as 'Hospital at Home' - a service already in place in Hertfordshire and West Essex.

This means that, where appropriate, people will be seen sooner by the right healthcare practitioner rather than going to hospital - saving hours of delays and in many cases providing a more tailored approach to their care.

The new approach has been launched in partnership with Hertfordshire & West Essex Integrated Care Board and will shortly be rolled out with other partners to help build on the work done so far in this area across the region.

EEAST chief executive Tom Abell said:

"We believe this will deliver real benefits for patients in getting them the help they need.

"This will help free up our dedicated people to see patients who most need our care and help reduce pressure on hospitals, reducing handover delays at emergency departments. Emergency patients with time critical care will always be taken straight to hospital for treatment.

"We are rolling out this approach across our region to improve care for patients."

The new approach includes access for partners to EEAST's cases so health care partners, and 'clinical conversations' - where EEAST paramedics identify appropriate patients and discuss with local health teams if their care can be transferred to a community partner - potentially eliminating the need for patients to go to emergency departments for diagnosis and further treatment.

Before launching the pilot, EEAST trialled the 'clinical conversation' with the East & North Herts' existing Hospital at Home service - operated by Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust (HCT). The service means patients can receive nursing care, therapy and remote monitoring services in the comfort of their own home or care home with a team of GPs, nurses, therapists and pharmacists overseeing care.

The week-long trial meant for the first time EEAST could directly refer into the service. A total of 108 patients were identified as suitable for Hospital at Home and of these 73 were not conveyed to hospital.

HCT Chief Executive, Elliot Howard-Jones, said:

"Working as one healthcare system to extend access to EEAST's cases is a momentous occasion as it not only means patients get the care they need when they need it - but that we are working together to reduce pressure on other services while still providing quality local healthcare."

The other community providers working with EEAST on this new approach include Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust and Essex Partnership University NHS Trust, who provides rapid response services that can help people at home, provide services that ensure they have greater independence in their own home and enable onward referral/follow up within community services to be made.

Herts and West Essex ICS Director of Operations Elizabeth Disney said:

"When people dial 999 we recognise that we must meet their needs rapidly and effectively. This innovative partnership arrangement and new way of working has shown us that this is possible at the same time as reducing waiting times at the Emergency Department and increasing the number of ambulances available to respond to the most urgent cases.

"We are very pleased with the results of the pilot and are working through the necessary arrangements for the service to continue.

"We look forward to continuing this work and finding further solutions that best meet the needs of patients."