Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pale of water. Jack fell down and broke his crown and Jill came tumbling after but fortunately she was unharmed and called an ambulance on her mobile. Doc Marttin said Jack only had a bump on his head as the crown had taken most of the blow – although he did wonder why Jack was wearing a crown – Doc wanted to keep Jack in for observation and treatment but Jack wanted to go home – and he wasn’t going to leave his crown where anyone could nick it! Doc Marttin agreed to send Jack home with support from Blue Sky Enabling and he set in place a ‘virtual ward’ so Jack would receive daily input from District Matron Marion and her merry band of outlaws. In less than a week at home Jack has made a remarkable recovery and DM Marion says the ‘virtual ward’ is definitely the way to go for older people.
‘So what is a ‘virtual ward’? A ‘virtual ward’ brings together all the professionals, including the patient’s own GP, District Matron, District Nurses, Continence Nurses, the Physiotherapist, the Occupational Therapist and Enablers/Carers so that they work as specialist parts of one integrated connected team delivering medical services and care to the person in the comfort of their own home.
Providing the right medical care for the elderly is a growing problem. Statistics show that 1 in 10 older people over 75 years of age are admitted to hospital as an emergency; this increases to 1 in 5 when people get to 95 years of age. Most of these unplanned hospital admissions will be in the winter months as a result of strokes, heart failure, falls, chest infections and urinary tract infections or a combination of these.
Hospital stays can be very disorientating and stressful for older people, especially those who already suffer from any of the dementias or sensory impairment and they rapidly become increasingly vulnerable to viral infections such as MRSA and E’Coli.
Once people have overcome the critical phase of their initial condition setting up the continuation of their treatment and care at home through a virtual ward significantly reduces the risk of cross-viral infections and provides a familiar stable environment that promotes a speedy recovery.
For fast recovery following hospital admission for older people call me, that’s Shelley Saxon, and we will help them to set up their own virtual ward with the support of their own GP.
Blue Sky Enabling: Life is for Living