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HITH FREES PATIENTS AND HOSPITAL BEDS

By Caitlan Gallagher

Hospital beds are in high demand at the Gold Coast University Hospital, with Queensland Health looking at ways to combat the problem.

A new healthcare at home program has been developed as a solution to give patients vital medical attention in their own homes.

The Hospital at the Home [HITH] program is offered to selected inpatients suffering from acute medical problems, which require clinical support.

Image: Gold Coast University Hospital

Around 48 percent of Government-funded health care expenditure is provided to patients with acute conditions.

Queensland Health reports suggest a majority of these acute patients could receive home care, saving the State Government millions.

The voluntary program means some locals will have the opportunity to leave hospital and still receive quality care.

Queensland Health believes the initiative will increase patient flow and decrease health expenses.

This year it was announced that 14 billion dollars would be spent on the health care system in Queensland.

In total this equates to an increase of over 560 million dollars compared to last year’s budget.

Overall, 11.5 billion dollars of the budget is dedicated to hospital services and health care programs.

Image: Dr Anthony DeNiro

Dr Anthony DeNiro says the Hospital in the Home Program is a way of combatting demands at the Gold Coast University Hospital.

“So by bringing the acute care to a home setting costs are a lot lower than a hospital bed,” Dr DeNiro said.

Patients that have taken part in the program have shown satisfaction with the service and opportunities available to them.

Health services say the program offers better or equal health outcomes for patients compared to traditional hospital care.

Hospital in the Home Clinical Nurse Julie Dawson believes the program is the beginning of a new era in healthcare.

“We’re hoping it’s going to be the way of the future. It certainly helps to keep people out of hospital and keep them in the home, because it all helps with their recovery,” Nurse Dawson said.

The service works in conjunction with Blue Care to ensure patients are receiving one-on-one medical attention.

Selected patients can receive treatment on a case specific basis, meaning that patients with a chronic illness are unable to obtain the home care.

Originally 40 to 50 patients were participating in the program, but the number has almost doubled on the Gold Coast with more patients volunteering.

A Queensland Health report also shows that the number of chronic diseases from 2014 is increasing, creating a stronger demand for hospital spaces.

The statistics also suggest the service reduces complications and hospital service costs.

58 year old Shelley Goldsack from Carrara is taking part in the Hospital in the Home program.

She suffers from an acute illness and that affects her digestive tract.

Image: Nurse Julie Dawson (left),
Patient Shelley Goldsack (right).

Her illness gastroparesis means that she is unable to digest food properly, instead it sits in her stomach for longer than normal and she has to be fed intravenously.

As part of her care she receives daily visits from a professional clinician who administers her nutritional needs.

Under normal circumstances she would have spent the past two months in Hospital, leading up to her surgery.

Instead she is taking part in the home care program and allowing another person to take her place in hospital.

The pensioner will still need to attend hospital for a mandatory surgery procedure, but she will only be there for recovery purposes.

A major benefit on home care is the safety from hospital diseases.

A majority of acute patients contract infections in hospital and Ms Goldsack used to get infected every time she stayed in hospital.

“In hospital, I have often copped sepsis from TPN, which is a normal thing. I’ve been on it [HITH] since May and not one lot of sepsis. So this is a big thing. It’s really great,” Ms Goldsack said.

The program is the first step in combating the national problem of health care costs and demands.

With an average population growth of 90 thousand people per year over a decade, there will be an even stronger need for home care programs.

Over the past year there was an increase of 4.1 percent in health care expenditure.

In addition, there is a bigger demand for hospital spaces with over 66 thousand hospitalisations each year in Queensland and the Hospital in the Home program aims to decrease this demand.

Topics: QLD Health, Hospital Demands, State Budget

Video: The Future of Healthcare at Home.