One in four patients would be better off at home

January 2012

Mike Farrar, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, recently commented that one in four patients would be better off receiving treatment at home rather than in hospital. Millions of people could also avoid the risk of being exposed to hospital acquired infections if they were treated at home.

He went on to say, "Hospitals play a vital role but we do rely on them for some services which could be provided elsewhere. We should be concentrating on reducing hospital stays where this is right for patients, shifting resources into community services, raising standards of general practice, and promoting early intervention and self-care.

“There is a value-for-money argument for doing this but it is not just about money and the public need to be told that - this is about building an NHS for the future."

Bupa Home Healthcare recently launched a report predicting that the NHS could save 14.5 million bed days a year through a greater use of home healthcare services.

Steve Flanagan, Managing Director, Bupa Home Healthcare said, “We fully welcome and concur with Mike Farrar’s comments. As the NHS looks to meet tough efficiency targets, we’ve calculated that up to £1.7 billion a year can be saved if hospitals and PCTS treated more patients in the home. The levels of hospitalisation we see, both in terms of length of stay and readmissions, drain resources from our already stretched health and social care system.

“Treating patients in the home when it is clinically safe to do so – for example, administering antibiotics after a knee or hip replacement – is a win-win because the NHS can save money and patients prefer it as they’re able to get on with their lives. Nobody wants to stay in hospital longer than is necessary.”

A summary of our report (published 23 November 2011)

• Bupa predicts the NHS could save over 14.5 million bed days a year, which could significantly help ease capacity pressures and reduce waiting lists.
• This equates up to a £1.7 billion a year saving if hospitals and Primary Care Trusts treated more patients in the home.
• The biggest savings (up to £1.3 billion) could be made if patients were discharged from hospital sooner after an operation. An additional £390 million could be saved if there were effective after care packages in place which would result in people not being re-admitted to hospital with additional complications such as infections.
• Link to the report: http://www.bupa.com/media-centre/news/corporate/treating-patients-in-the-home-could-save-the-nhs-17-billion

Case study – PCT saves £1.8 million a year treating patients in the home

Bupa Home Healthcare looks after 17 patients for NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly. The patients are children with long term ventilation, either invasive or non-invasive therapy, children with life limiting conditions in palliative end of life phase and children with challenging behaviour. The 10 year partnership has saved the Primary Care Trust £1.8 million a year.

Leah Parker, Associate Director Women and Children’s Commissioning, NHS Cornwall and Isles of Scilly, said: “Other than the financial aspects, patient care is the main benefit for us. Home healthcare enables the child to remain in their community; living with their family and going to school, so you certainly get better outcomes than a child lying in an acute hospital bed.”

Patient case study – Barry Palmer, 63

Barry would have spent three months in hospital if home healthcare wasn’t available to him. In March 2010, he had a knee replacement operation which became infected two weeks later which became the start of 18 months of hospital treatment. He was able to have antibiotic treatment in the home. He says of his treatment: “The drugs made me feel tired and so it was great that I was at home where I could rest in peace and quiet. I’d also had enough of being stuck in hospital with people who were very unwell – I found it quite depressing seeing other people suffer.”