HITH helping patients like Janine to go back home
At 44 years old, Janine Stevens found herself undergoing a hip replacement following an osteoarthritis diagnosis.
After the surgery in December 2023, Janine's recovery was all going to plan until the surgical site became infected two weeks later.
Following an emergency operation to remove the infection, Janine remained at Fiona Stanley Hospital for two and a half weeks, before being transferred to Fremantle Hospital for another week while she recovered from the infection.
"While I was in hospital, one of the nurses came in and said that they will look into setting me up with the new Hospital in the Home (HITH) service," Janine said.
Just one week later, Janine was discharged from hospital and receiving care in the comfort of her own home- thanks to the HITH service.
One of the first patients to utilise the service, Janine expressed how convenient and useful the service has been.
"I have been using HITH since early February and cannot express how grateful I am for the service," Janine said.
"Once a day a HITH nurse will come out to my house and check in to see how my body is recovering following my hip replacement surgery.
"They phone me to let me know when they are on their way and spend no more than 30 minutes at my house before they are on the road again."
Janine explained how the attending nurse goes about the visit in just 30 minutes.
"My nurse will come in and make use of the kitchen bench, wiping the bench down before setting everything up," Janine explained.
"In a typical visit, my nurse will check my observations, my peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) line and if needed, change the dressing on my hip.
"During these visits I often sit by my dining table, or if my PICC line needs changing I will go and lay down on my bed."
Janine's HITH nurses are heavily involved in her care and will provide additional support by attending appointments with Janine when she is required to come into hospital.
Praising the convenience of the service, Janine expressed how it has positively impacted her wellbeing.
"Being in the hospital can be very stressful for me. Since being at home and receiving care through HITH, I have been able to get a better night's sleep and I generally feel more relaxed.
"As I am unable to drive, I rely on my husband to take me to and from appointments.
"We no longer need to work around two schedules, we save time travelling to and from the hospital, and no longer need to worry about finding or paying for parking."
With 24/7 support available, Janine is able to contact her HITH team at any time of the day to ask for advice about her care and recovery over the phone.
Currently available to patients in the Fiona Stanley Fremantle Hospitals Group catchment area, the service allows patients to receive acute care in the comfort of their own home, away from a hospital setting.
Benefiting not only patients, HITH aims to reduce in-hospital length of stay, reduce the number of presentations to the emergency department and reduce bed occupancy.
The service looks to expand further across South Metropolitan Health Service over the next 12 months.
