Medway Virtual Ward Strategy Enables Drug Administration At Home

Medway NHS Foundation Trust’s virtual ward strategy is freeing up hospital beds and saving thousands of pounds, with the help of technology from Wygon UK.

The trust, which operates the Medway Maritime Hospital in Gillingham, and its patients are seeing the benefits of the Virtual Ward programme, which is helping people receive care in their own homes under the direction of the hospital.

The Strategy Wagon is using innovative medical technology from the UK, including the Accufuser elastomeric pump. The pump allows staff in the hospital to deliver medications at the correct dose and rate. Used with remote monitoring technology, it means hospitals can track patients’ vital signs remotely. Doctors keep in touch with patients via telephone or video calls, and since the pump only needs to be changed every 24 hours, only one in-person visit is needed a day.

By enabling patients to stay at home, it avoids the need for a hospital stay and also limits patients’ exposure to potential infection.

Prior to using the pump in the virtual ward, the SMART team was unable to accept referrals for patients who required IV antibiotics frequently during the day.

Jacqui Hammond, Clinical Nurse Lead and Service Improvement Manager at Medway, said: “The demand for beds as well as the anticipation of my patients recovering in a hospital environment during the pandemic reinforced the need to introduce the Accufuser elastomeric device to our OPAT Done. Outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy) way.

“This allowed me to accommodate more patients in my virtual ward. The 24-hour fresh-loaded concept was important to me as my team could spend quality time with the patient during preparation, plus it gives an opportunity to assess and evaluate the effect of drug treatment.

cost savings discovered

The Medway Surgical Medical Acute Recovery Team (SMART) began using the pump in October 2021. Its use between then and January this year meant an additional 64 patients were able to receive the treatment at home. In the first 10 months alone, Medway’s virtual ward and pump saved 496 hospital bed days, saving the NHS around £160k.

According to Medway, the cost of a day in the virtual ward is £187.51. In comparison, the cost of a traditional ward stay for a hematology patient is £460, rising to £658 for a respiratory patient.

James Cunningham, Wagon Business Development Manager, said: “As the drive for virtual wards in the NHS accelerates, Jackie has been ahead of the curve and shown that it not only pays for itself but also generates savings for the Trust Is.

“The use of innovative medical devices to enable patients to receive care at home is vital to their experience, but just as importantly, it is a key national priority, which all trusts are tasked with delivering. It’s great to see the Accufuser implementation contribute to this service and have such a positive impact across the board.

Virtual wards are set to expand rapidly within the NHS in the near future, as the government recently unveiled plans to expand their use with a target of treating 50,000 patients a month.