Tag: wards
Virtual hospital wards no substitute for real people, says patient waiting for hip operation
NHS to treat 50,000 elderly and vulnerable patients in ‘virtual wards’ at home
More elderly and frail patients who suffer falls will be treated at home in virtual wards to ease the NHS crisis
MORE elderly and frail patients who suffer falls will be treated at home in virtual wards — to ease the NHS crisis.
Up to 50,000 a month could be remotely monitored by doctors using apps and gadgets.
More elderly and frail patients who suffer falls will be treated at home in virtual wards — to ease the NHS crisis[/caption]
The scheme will see nursing teams sent to their homes within two hours of them taking a tumble.
But rather than taking them to hospital they will set up monitoring gear.
The patients will be checked daily in video calls or visits.
It comes as the NHS struggles with the worst crisis in its history.
Hospital wards are overflowing and casualty waiting times spiralling.
Health Secretary Steve Barclay added: “The health and care service is facing significant pressures and, while there is no quick fix, we can take immediate action to reduce long waits for urgent and emergency care.
“Up to 20 per cent of hospital admissions are avoidable with the right care in place.”
Another 3,000 so-called hospital at home beds will be created before next winter — up from about 10,000 already in use.
Tomorrow PM Rishi Sunak will unveil more plans to reform emergency care in a speech in the North East.
He will highlight the need to free up beds by improving discharge rates and making sure that people who can be treated in the community stay out of hospital.
How the NHS is using ‘virtual wards’ and smartphones to clear beds at hospitals operating at near capacity
Children’s wards full of kids with severe coughs and chest infections, top nurse warns
CHILDREN’S wards are full of kids with severe coughs and chest infections, warns England’s top nurse.
Chief nursing officer Dame Ruth May said hospital cases of the RSV winter bug are at a five-year high.
Chief nursing officer, Dame Ruth May, says cases of the RSV are at a five-year high[/caption]
She said paediatric intensive care is 99 per cent full and infections are still rising.
Figures from the UK Health Security Agency show a third of under-fives with suspected respiratory syncytial virus test positive.
Dame Ruth told NHS board members: “We’ve got increasing RSV – we see that every year but we are now at highest for 5 years, with critical care at 99 per cent capacity across England.
“We are not yet at the position of seeing RSV numbers go down but we are working hard on it.”
The chief nurse added that wards are so busy children must be transported between hospitals in some areas.
Dr Camilla Kingdon, president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “Paediatric teams are exceptionally busy this winter as a result of ever rising demand and staffing issues.
“Some of this increased demand is due to RSV and other respiratory infections, alongside other illnesses and issues.”
The UKHSA said hospital admissions for flu are also highest among children under five.
Official figures show youngsters’ intensive care wards were 90 per cent full last week, with general wards at 82 per cent.
This time last year, intensive care was 82 per cent full and general beds 77 per cent.
Dr Conall Watson, from the UK Health Security Agency, said: “RSV is unfortunately common at this time of the year and can be severe for children under two – particularly for babies and those born prematurely.”
More than 1,000 children were refused admission to intensive care last year because of a lack of beds, the Health Service Journal reported.
Freedom of Information data from 19 NHS hospital trusts revealed 1,345 ICU referrals were turned down last year, with experts blaming staff shortages.