Home Hospital supports Amanda to recover in comfort at home

Type 1 diabetic patient Amanda has been in and out of hospital constantly since her first kidney transplant in 2013.

“The first transplant was not as effective as hoped, so I was referred for dialysis until a second transplant in 2020,” Amanda said.

“Unfortunately, this transplant also had issues, and I had to come to hospital regularly for care and surgery for ulcers I’d developed on my toes.”

Amanda said she was constantly in hospital, missing her two dogs and partner.

But thanks to the Home Hospital (formerly known as HiTH) service, now offered to patients in the catchment areas of Fiona Stanley and Fremantle hospitals, Amanda, as an existing patient, was able to receive acute care supported by medical and nursing staff and telehealth in the comfort of her own home.

“The beautiful Home Hospital nurses were amazing,” Amanda said.

The service utilises skilled medical staff, hospital-equivalent technologies, equipment, and medication to care for patients in their familiar home environment as a substitution for hospital accommodation, which offers a great patient experience and an equivalent level of care to an acute inpatient episode.

“They initially came daily to administer my antibiotic injections and change my dressings," Amanda said.

“They were even available in the middle of the night via phone when I needed some support and reassurance – Home Hospital were there when I needed them.”

A win-win for patients and the health service, Home Hospital reduces the use of hospital-based beds for patients who can be cared for equally at home and in their community, reducing hospital length of stay and emergency department (ED) presentations.

Able to spend Christmas as home with her family and now only requiring weekly visits, Amanda credits her good recent improved blood results to the care she received in her own home.

Available to existing, eligible FSFHG patients, the Home Hospital service is available from 8:00am to 8:00pm with after-hours emergency telephone support for existing patients.

Existing FSFHG patients can ask their treating clinicians if they may be eligible for the service.

Find out more about Home Hospital (external site).

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