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More patients in Southern Tasmania will be supported to return home from hospital sooner - or avoid presenting to a hospital altogether – with the expansion of the Royal Hobart Hospital’s (RHH) Hospital@home program.
The program brings together and expands on three existing services to significantly increase the amount of hospital-level care delivered in the community, by expanding its “virtual ward” from 12 to 22 beds, and providing rapid response services.
Patients admitted to Hospital@home receive appropriate care tailored to their individual needs, which can include in-home visits, appointments at community health clinics or use of digital technology allowing virtual monitoring of patients at home.
Eight new geriatric care beds have been established to provide comprehensive assessment and management of older, frailer patients – a first-of-its kind service for the State set to enable more elderly Tasmanians to maintain their independence in the community for longer.
Two new beds for patients in need of acute care have also been added to the virtual ward, which was initially established in April 2020, while more Tasmanians are now eligible for Hospital@home with an expanded catchment area – a 45-minute radius from Glenorchy and Cambridge - for care delivery and an expanded referral base.
Patients can be admitted to the virtual ward from home, community care providers, the emergency department or physical hospital wards where safe to do so, representing a larger referral base than the previous system.
In addition to the virtual admitted wards, Hospital@home’s rapid response arm works closely with primary care providers and Residential Aged Care Facilities to coordinate rapid in-home interventions to patients experiencing exacerbation of health issues, to provide hospital-level care in their own homes.
The service operates 7 days per week from 7.30am to 10.30pm, with care provided by an interdisciplinary team made up of medical, nursing and allied health professionals as well as pharmacists.
