Case study: Feasibility assessment

A recent feasibility assessment concluded that implementing Hospital at Home services would free up significant numbers of inpatient beds.

In September 2023 HomeLink Healthcare’s experienced clinicians spent two days with an NHS Trust. We discussed the Trust’s current challenges, and ‘walked the wards’ to identify opportunities to discharge patients. We carried out a detailed feasibility assessment across seven wards  in surgery and medicine. These wards accommodated around a third of the hospital’s 700 beds.

The potential impact of implementing Hospital at Home services

Virtual Ward:

Our team identified 25 patients from different specialties that could have been treated at home on a Virtual Ward.

Bridging Packages of Care:

A further 16 patients were identified as being medically fit for discharge and were waiting to return home with a package of care. On average it was taking the Trust four to five days to arrange this care with local providers. HomeLink Healthcare respond to referrals within two hours and can facilitate a return to patients’ homes on the same or next working day.

IV Therapy:

The Trust’s OPAT team were taking patients on longer IV prescriptions, however any patient requiring short courses were kept on the ward even though they were medically stable and could be treated at home. This is causing bed blocking and could be alleviated with administration of IV therapy in the community. HomeLink Healthcare has been providing this type of service to other NHS Trusts since 2019.

Applying this across the NHS

NHS hospitals frequently run at above 95 percent bed occupancy levels which impacts on hospital flow. Our feasibility study highlights the impact that Hospital at Home services can have. HomeLink Healthcare Hospital at Home services:

• improve patient flow as well as patient experience and outcomes.
• typically cost half the equivalent in-hospital care (James Paget University Hospital data).
• help hospitals avoid recruitment challenges, we bring our own staff.
• can avoid the need for capital expenditure on new wards.

What is a feasibility assessment?

As part of our consultative process, HomeLink Healthcare offer prospective clients a no-obligation, free feasibility assessment. The assessment provides a snapshot, at a given time, of the patients that could be treated at home. As a result, it provides a good indication of how many hospital beds could be freed up. The feasibility assessment helps prospective clients to build a business case for Hospital at Home services.

Contents of a feasibility assessment

• During a pre-visit call we discuss your current situation and concerns with patient flow.
• We then carry out a desk-based review of relevant documentation.
• Our experienced clinicians visit your senior management and clinical teams on-site to discuss the current challenges.
• We ‘walk the ward’ with your teams to identify opportunities to discharge patients and how we can help you.
• You can ask us in-depth questions about our Hospital at Home service delivery and governance.
• We collate and summarise findings from this survey and present this back to you within two weeks of the visit. The assessment will include a solution-based proposal with suggested staffing model (HomeLink Healthcare provide our own staff) and outcome-based measures.

The feasibility study forms part of our seven step end-to-end process:

Work with us 

Find out more about HomeLink Healthcare’s Hospital at Home services and the process of commissioning HomeLink Healthcare to set up a hospital at home service. 

Get in touch 

To speak to a member of our team about our services or to book a free feasibility assessment, call us on (020) 3137 5370 or contact us.