From Left - Ayumi Sato, Jane Wilkie, Tori Mackle, Erik McClain, Katrina Potter, Avon McKay.
Select patients at Gisborne hospital, will now be able to receive treatment at home, under medical supervision, with a new service which was blessed on Tuesday 9 July.
Hospital in the Home Tairawhiti Project Manager, Tori Mackle, says Āhuru Mōwai Hospital in the Home (HitH) is an acute clinical service which takes staff, equipment, technologies, medication and skills which are provided in hospital and delivers that care to selected patients in their homes.
Those who are transferred will receive acute specialist care at home including: daily review by a nurse and a virtual medical consultation.
Suitable patients who could be safely transferred include those with manageable heart failure, respiratory conditions or infections. Patients will be assessed as clinically safe for referral by the medical team and a Coordinator will meet with the patient and whānau to explain the service and gain consent, Tori says.
“The service provides patients and whānau with a choice about how they receive their hospital care. Some people may prefer to stay in hospital, but this is now an option we can offer some people, who might prefer to go home,” Tori says.
The benefits of treatment at home mean people are recuperating in the comfort of their own bed, with more privacy, they are able to maintain their routines and independence, with less chance of an HAI (hospital acquired infections) and family are able to visit at any time.
The model is well established in Australia and Counties Manukau, in Auckland with an independent review in 2009 finding the HitH model consistently demonstrates desirable outcomes including; reduced length of stay, fewer complications like infection and delirium as well as improved patient and carer satisfaction.
Three nurses have been recruited to the service and Āhuru Mōwai aims to be ready to support the first patients by Monday 29 July. Physician Eric McCain is the Clinical Lead and Jane Wilkie is currently seconded into the role of Service Coordinator.
There will be a strong focus on gathering real time feedback from those who are cared for within Āhuru Mōwai. This will allow the team to learn, evaluate processes and continuously adapt and improve the service as it goes.
In setting up the service, the HitH project team have gathered information from local whānau and will continue to listen to the voice of the Tairāwhiti community, to establish what success looks like for a service like this in our region. This is an investment for Te Tairāwhiti community benefit, and how the service is delivered will be shaped by the people within it, Tori says.
Āhuru Mōwai will begin with a small number of patients who live in the city, but is building the foundations to enable access to acute specialist care in more remote areas of Tairāwhiti.
Āhuru Mōwai was the name gifted to Tairāwhiti’s new service. This name implies a calm, nurturing space, with a mutual respect between parties. A space for care to be delivered and shared, for healing and recovery.