An innovative scheme where Dorset hospital patients with lung disease are treated at home has been praised.

The scheme pioneered at Dorset County Hospital, in Dorchester, is effective, saves the NHS £1,140 per case, and has extremely high patient satisfaction ratings according to new research presented to the British Thoracic Society.

The researchers believe that if the scheme was more widely adopted across the country it could improve care and has the potential to save the NHS millions of pounds.

More than 12,000 people were admitted to hospital in England during 2013-14 with bronchiectasis, a long-term lung condition which affects around 1 in 1,000 adults in the UK. Bronchiectasis occurs when the airways of the lungs become abnormally widened, leading to a build-up of excess mucus that can make the lungs more vulnerable to infection.

Experts at Dorset County Hospital identified that most of their local patients admitted needed two weeks intravenous antibiotics to eradicate infection, but many didn’t need to be in hospital to receive this treatment.

An Acute Hospital at Home service had previously been created at the Dorchester Hospital – and so, from January 2016, a team was developed to specifically treat bronchiectasis patients at home, where appropriate. The research included retrospective analysis of 51 patient records to review clinical outcomes including length of hospital stay, infection rates, culture rates and cost implications.

Findings not only revealed a substantial financial benefit – a saving of £1,140 per patient, per admission – but also significantly improved patient satisfaction. 98% of patients said they would recommend the service to family and friends (compared to 83% managed on a hospital inpatient ward), as they could enjoy their own home comforts, and could even continue to work.

The research showed :

  • Inpatient hospital stays reduced from an average 9.1 days to 2.5 days, meaning a reduced risk of possible hospital-acquired infection
  • The scheme was just as effective as purely hospital-based treatment when measured by the number of patients being readmitted to hospital in the future