Healthy communities: virtual ward easing acute hospital pressure | Our News

best healthy communities logo

Healthy communities: virtual ward easing acute hospital pressure

Pictured: Respiratory service trainee advanced clinical practitioner visits Catherine Stubbs-Parker at home.

Catherine Stubbs-Parker is just one of hundreds of patients who has benefited from receiving care in a virtual ward.

Catherine, 78 and from Harborne, was cared for on the respiratory virtual ward for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) after an exacerbation of the condition led to a stay at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham.

Catherine, whose husband was also in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital recovering from a heart operation at the same time, jumped at the chance to go home under the care of a virtual ward.

The next day, a specialist physiotherapist visited Catherine’s home and provided respiratory assessment and management, ensuring she had everything she needed to continue her daily treatment and monitoring at home.

She also had a short-term nebuliser and an oxygen concentrator which she used for several hours a day.

“He visited me at home for an initial review the day after I left hospital. His reassuring attitude gave me the confidence I needed to continue my treatment in the virtual ward. He not only checked that I had everything I needed, but that I understood how to use it.

“I felt well-informed, which in turn eased my stress. The key benefits for me were that I like to be at home with my husband and we have our daily routine. Nobody wants to stay in hospital if they don’t need to.

“Being able to have a cup of tea and dinner in the comfort of my own home, while knowing that the care team are just a phone call away if I need them is very reassuring.”

David Disley-Jones

david.disleyjones@nhs.net

Communications Manager,
Communications Team
(Corporate)

Our patients and their carers and families are the reason we're here, so we want to hear your views about the Trust and our services.

"This website makes use of Essential Cookies, as defined in the UK GDPR, in order to function and to improve your security, e.g. when submitting forms. These Essential Cookies are only for security and site function, and do not track individual in any way.

"In order to better understand your needs and so improve our services to you, this website may also make use of some cookies that are used for traffic analytics or other behavioural statistics ("Analytics Cookies"): more details can be found on our Privacy Page . If you are happy to accept these Analytics Cookies, please press the Accept button; if you are not happy to accept these Analytics Cookies, this site will still work correctly but some third party services (such as some videos or social media feeds) may not display.”

Please choose a setting: