A further £3.6 million is being made available to support the expansion of Hospital at Home services across North Ayrshire and other parts of Scotland, with the aim of doubling current capacity by the end of 2022.
The services helps to reduce hospital admissions for elderly patients by providing treatments in the comfort and familiarity of their own home.
The SNP Government’s has invested £8.1 million in these services since 2020.
Hospital at Home enables people to receive treatments that would otherwise require them to be admitted to hospital, such as an intravenous drip or oxygen supply. It also provides access to hospital tests under the care of a consultant in their own home.
Evidence shows that those benefitting from the service are more likely to avoid hospital or care home stays for up to six months after a period of acute illness.
As well as Hospital at Home, the Outpatient Parenteral Antimicrobial Treatment scheme and Respiratory Community Response Teams now offer more than 600 virtual beds to treat patients for conditions that would traditionally need hospitalisation, an increase of more than a third from 440 virtual beds at the start of January 2022.
Kenneth Gibson MSP said:
“Hospital at Home has been proven to be successful, and this further funding will help further reduce the number of prolonged hospital stays, freeing up more hospital beds.
“For older patients, it means being able to stay at home longer without losing their independence – a key SNP policy. This has contributed to overall improvements in patient satisfaction across North Ayrshire.”
Funding is available to all health boards, and their health and social care partnerships to support the development of new services, or to expand the capacity of existing services, with the key aim of doubling the current capacity by December 2022.
ENDS
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