Frequently asked questions

HomeLink Healthcare provides flexible additional clinical capacity to the NHS at a lower cost than the NHS.

Our partnerships with the NHS are based on clear outcome measures and KPIs, giving clarity and reassurance about the services we provide.

We provide safe, high-quality clinical care. HomeLink Healthcare is rated as “overall good” by the CQC.

We become an integral part of local NHS teams where it operates.

Our Hospital at Home services offer multiple benefits (see below).

HomeLink Healthcare provides a single service – Hospital at Home. Within this we support four key pathways:

• Virtual Ward
• Early Supported Discharge
• Admission Avoidance
• Reablement

Within each pathway there are a number of key interventions. Please see our hospital at home services page for more information

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Yes. We provide care to patients in a range of settings including care homes, assisted living services, at home or any other setting appropriate to the needs of our patients.

All clinically qualified staff hold professional registrations with their governing body and have a range of skills and experience.

Our registered nurses and therapists have a minimum of three years post registration experience in community and acute care.

Our healthcare support workers and reablement support workers are all qualified to NVQ level 3 or equivalent.

All team members complete a comprehensive induction programme, including a core competency framework and lone working sign off. Ongoing training and supervised practice ensures continuous professional development.

HomeLink Healthcare ensure recruitment has no impact on local NHS services. Our clinical teams are established and comprise clinicians from a range of backgrounds. Some may have already left NHS employment or work part-time with the NHS and HomeLink Healthcare.

To remove barriers and administration when commissioning our services, HomeLink Healthcare is pre-qualified on several NHS procurement frameworks:

• NHS SBS Medical Care at Home Framework.
• Norfolk and Waveney CHC
• Cambridge and Peterborough Early Intervention and Prevention

Alternatively, clients can contract directly with HomeLink Healthcare. Please see the work with us page for more information.

HomeLink Healthcare takes Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) seriously. We are committed to exceeding NHS independent sector targets. HomeLink Healthcare has an ESG committee that implements initiatives and tracks our progress to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.

Initiatives include:

• reducing unwarranted travel times through use of our scheduling system, which also increases efficiency.
• using a zero-emission car service where we are responsible patient transport
• purchasing bio-degradable aprons when we are responsible for providing PPE
• being a digital, paper-free organisation

Read an example of how the whole team got involved in ESG here.

No, we are not an agency. We supply a range of fully managed and governed clinical services.

Yes. Virtual wards provide additional bed capacity to through delivery of safe, effective hospital type clinical care at home.

Our services take between 4 and 12 weeks to mobilise. The main variables affecting this are:

• service requirements
• if HomeLink Healthcare has existing services are in the area
• governance arrangements

Yes and where possible, a discharge date from the virtual ward is planned before a patient is transferred to our service. Consultants and GPs are kept up to date with patient progress during their treatment at intervals that they decide on.

We have relationships with top providers of remote monitoring equipment, both intermittent and continuous, which be included into our provision.

Alternately, we are happy to use equipment already purchased by the NHS.

Our NHS partners feedback that our services reduce their work and provide additional clinical oversight of their outlying patients.

We engage with consultants and ward teams from the outset to design service specifications and the mobilisation process.

Once a service has commenced, our hospital-based clinical leads are fully integrated with hospital teams. They collaborate with consultants, ward and discharge teams to manage patient flow, ensure safe transfer and discharges and on ongoing care.

If a patient is transferred to a virtual ward consultants retain clinical accountability.

HomeLink has a proven track record of setting up new services using the tried and tested PRINCE 2 methodology. During the mobilisation phase we work with our NHS partners to co-design and develop the service from referral, pathway design, clinical governance, information governance, and reporting through to contractual monitoring and management. Before any service goes ‘live’ there are processes to robustly test the service to ensure patient safety. Once a service is safe to go live, we offer a four week period of intensive support, to ensure that the service delivers to contractual and stakeholder expectations and agreement.

We are experts in reviewing client needs and flexible, so that we provide bespoke solutions to meet those needs.

HomeLink Healthcare increases NHS Hospital and Community Trust capacity at a lower cost than the NHS.

We improve patient flow through the hospital, with a significant reduction in readmittance.

Our services give faster patient recovery and improved patient outcomes

A well-established workforce recruitment team, using the latest systems supported by local networks.

We are prequalified on the NHS SBS Medical Care at Home procurement framework. This provides a speedier contracting process within an approved framework.

Click here to find out more about our services.

We have provided a range of clinical pathways to multiple NHS Trusts and ICS since 2016. Click here to find out more about our story.

Yes, we have our own clinical workforce which consists of Registered Nurses, Allied Health professionals (AHPs) and Healthcare and Rehabilitation Support Workers. All staff have up to date DBS references.

We do not use agency staff.

In addition, we have a hugely experienced senior management team, a recruitment team, management information team and a dedicated mobilisation team who will onboard each service.

Our services start with discussion, a needs review, and a possible onsite assessment and feedback process to ensure that HomeLink Healthcare can add significant value to each NHS partner.

HomeLink Healthcare support this fact find with time limited test and learn pilots to ensure our services that can flex and ensure quality and efficiency with a view creating longer term solutions that are efficient and effective for you and your patients.

Click here to view an example we developed with the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital Trust.

Our aim is to provide seamless, integrated care for patients. We have extensive experience of working with other care providers to ensure patient needs are met, without duplicating service provision. Each relationship with other providers will be unique. As with our partnerships, we have to be flexible to fit with other ways of working and treat each relationship on a case by case basis to ensure the best possible care for each patient.

HomeLink Healthcare services support and treat a range of clinical conditions, including and not limited to:

• Frailty
• Respiratory
• Orthopaedics
• General Medicine
• General Surgery
• Stroke/Neuro Rehab
• MSK Services
•  Cardiology

The process of reporting and recording incidents is agreed during the mobilisation phase. All incidents are reported in our online system as well as the partnering organisation’s system. Incidents are discussed at monthly service meetings and any learnings are shared. Any CQC notifiable events are reported, investigated and fed back externally at the service review meetings as well as internally through our own quality and safety meetings.

Click here to view HomeLink Healthcare’s quality policy.