Helping Bromley Children Stay out of Hospital
NHS South East London Clinical Commissioning Group has approved funding for the innovative One Bromley Hospital@Home service for children and young people in Bromley. The Hospital@Home service, run by a team of community nurses, supports parents and carers to safely take their children home from hospital and continue their care in familiar surroundings at home. Treatments provided at home include intravenous antibiotics and respiratory assessments for conditions such as croup, asthma, bronchiolitis, infections, and high temperatures.
The service, running as a pilot for 18 months, will be mainstreamed and made available to more families. It is just one example of how Bromley services are working collaboratively together as the One Bromley place based Local Care Partnership to make a real difference to the care and lives of young people.
Cait Lewis (Clinical Lead for Children’s Community Nursing Team) at Bromley Healthcare said, “We know that young people often respond much better when cared for at home. The familiar surroundings and being close to their family all help with recovery and they are less likely to be readmitted to hospital. Our team of community nurses liaise with the hospital team throughout the child’s treatment to make sure they are getting the right care in their own home”.
Dr Julia Phillips, Consultant Paediatrician at the Princess Royal University Hospital said, “The Hospital@Home team provides an important service to enable children to be cared for in the home environment both for intravenous medication and medical reviews of children who need extra monitoring. The team is staffed by experienced paediatric nurses who work hand in hand with the hospital medical team. The feedback from the families has been phenomenal and I am delighted that this service has been formally commissioned”.
Feedback from parents and carers highlighted the personalised, high-quality care, the kindness and compassion of the nursing team and the convenience of being seen at home. Bromley resident Rachel Eatwell received help from the team to care for her child who had frequent inpatient stays. “My daughter’s hospital stays meant she missed out on school and social contact with friends. The Hospital@Home team have really changed that around and she is now cared for at home. A fantastic group of nurses who are all extremely competent and proactive and really kind. It has been life changing and given us some normality despite our child’s ongoing medical treatment”.