Raj Jain, Chair of Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB) visited Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s (BCHFT) Frailty Virtual Ward on Tuesday 20 February.
Situated in Halton, this integrated service uses pioneering technology to allow patients who are over 65 and who do not have the ability to recover quickly, to safely receive the healthcare they need in the comfort of their own home, rather than a hospital ward.
A partnership between BCHFT, Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, this ‘Hospital at Home’ was initially set up as a response to Covid-19 and operates alongside Halton and Warrington’s Urgent Community Response Service.
Since then, numerous additional benefits have been realised, not least a reduction in some of the less serious ambulance call outs that often result in a trip to hospital.
Mr Jain was able to witness the Ward’s Consultant-led multi-disciplinary team working together.
The strong trust and confidence that exists between its members, who all work for different organisations within the Acute, Mental Health and Community sectors, results in truly personalised patient care.
As well as home visits, the team uses remote technology from innovation company Docobo to accurately monitor patients.
Plans are also underway, in what will be a first in Cheshire and Merseyside, to use video to communicate with Virtual Ward patients.
Photo: Raj Jain (centre) during the visit to the Frailty Virtual Ward, with Julie Swift, Advanced Nurse Practitioner (left) and Lydia Vallance-Prentice, Clinical Nurse Lead (right).
Mr Jain said:
“I’ve been hugely impressed with the team and the way in which they deliver holistic patient and family centred care, utilising technology, knowledge and life experiences to optimise the experience of patients and families, as well as resources.”
Lydia Vallance-Prentice, Clinical Nurse Lead, added:
“We’re committed to offering our patients the best community-based healthcare. They are definitely more comfortable – and often feel more empowered to make decisions about their own care when they’re in their own homes.
“They can sleep in their own beds and eat, drink and get up when they feel like it. They are also less likely to get any other infections if they are at home.
“We are delighted that Mr Jain has been able to see all this in action, today.”
Further developments are expected over the coming months on this successful Virtual Wards partnership for NHS Cheshire and Merseyside.