Visit to Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust

Last week, our chief executive Daniel Elkeles visited Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust to see the innovative ways the trust is reducing admissions and delivering high-quality care through their Hospital at Home service. 

Daniel said: "Leading edge and groundbreaking are two of the thoughts that I came away with following a visit to Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust. Since 2019, they have reduced the number of admissions to their local emergency department of the frail elderly 65+ cohort from 250 patients a month to 50. They have also reduced the percentage of Ambulance Category 3-5 patients being conveyed to hospital from half to a third. 

"In the last three years, 23,500 patients have been cared for in their comprehensive Hospital at Home service that links urgent community response, virtual wards and admission prevention services together."

They’ve achieved this dramatic reduction by:

🔵 Managing a case load of c.250 patients at any one time.
🔵 Widescale use of remote monitoring in patients’ homes.
🔵 Caring for 30 patients per day on IV antibiotics at home.
🔵 Creating a community DVT pathway that includes DEXA scanning.
🔵 Bringing in consultants (renal, heart failure, respiratory) from East and North Hertfordshire to support neighbourhood teams.
🔵 Developing a 'long lie' pathway for patients who have fallen and been on the floor for several hours to be safely cared for at home.
🔵 Taking 10 patients a day directly from the ambulance stack and supporting paramedics on scene with c.20 patients a day through 'call before convey'.
🔵 Running a medicines optimisation programme in partnership with a pharmaceutical company.

With a cost-per-bed day of just £85, the trust is now exploring social financing options to invest in their next wave of initiatives.

"Thank you to Elliot, Elizabeth and the whole team for such a remarkable visit."