I want to go home!
Hospital in your home
The Wesley Pharmacy Home Health Care team has provided Brisbane’s premier hospital in the home service for nearly 20 years.
Our aim is to deliver treatment usually only available in the hospital in the safety and comfort of your home.
The main benefit of receiving treatment at home is that you can be discharged from hospital- this means that you can get on with your life. It also means that your chances of developing an infection from a hospital acquired bug are significantly reduced.
You won’t be alone though. Our nurses are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to ensure that our patients are safe.
In most cases there will be no out of pocket expenses to access our hospital in the home service.
Talk to your doctor about being discharged earlier and receiving your hospital treatment in your home.
What is it?
Hospital in the home is the delivery of hospital level care in the home instead of hospital. For suitable patients, there are likely to be clinical and social benefits to this style of care.
Most patients who have received hospital in the home treatment prefer it to in-hospital treatment.
What actually happens?
Our nurses will visit you at home at a scheduled time. In most cases this visit occurs every day but this depends on the nature of the treatment.
At each visit the nurse will provide the care as directed by your doctor.
In the case of patients receiving intravenous antibiotic therapy, the nurse will reprogram the computerised infusion pump, flush the line and attach a new bag of medicine to it. (Our pharmacists prepare these infusion bags in our state of the art sterile compounding facility.) The nurse will also inspect the intravenous access point and perform tests to confirm that the computerised infusion pump is working properly.
In the case of advanced wound care, the nurse will tend to the wound, check any dressings and replace dressings as appropriate.
What are the benefits?
The chances of becoming infected with an antibiotic resistant hospital acquired infection are significantly reduced.
The risk of an illness caused by medication error is significantly reduced.
There is the potential to return to your normal activities and routine quickly.
Recovery is more pleasant at home with your family, friends and pets around you. It has been shown that quality of life for hospital in the home patients is better than quality of life when in hospital.
Research has demonstrated that there are improved outcomes and recovery rates in certain patient groups.
Am I suitable for hospital in the home?
Ultimately, the decision as to whether a patient is suitable for hospital in the home treatment is made by the doctor, in conjunction with the patient.
The patient must be clinically stable and live in a suitably safe environment with access to a telephone. Most of our patients require intravenous antibiotic therapy or advanced wound care. We also administer blood transfusions and assist in the provision of palliative care.
Because our nurses are so experienced and are supported by an extremely knowledgeable team of pharmacists and support staff, we are not limited to the above treatment types. If you would like to receive treatment at home discuss it with your doctor.
How do I make it happen?
The first step is making your doctor aware that you are interested in early discharge and the possibility of receiving hospital in the home treatment.
If your doctor thinks you are suitable you should encourage them to have your ward based nurse commence discussions with the discharge planning team.
Discharge planning will obtain relevant approvals and refer you to The Wesley Pharmacy Home Health Care team. You will then go to home earlier.