Learning from other areas

Information summaries

The information summaries have a range of details about how services operate. Select your topic of interest from the list below:

Case studies and blogs

Healthcare Improvement Scotland have worked with boards and HSCPs to share different experiences of developing, operating and receiving Hospital at Home care. These stories are shared below.

Podcast

Find our podcast, House Call: A Hospital at Home Podcast on any of the platforms below:

Listen to the Healthcare Improvement Scotland podcast.

Case Studies

Blogs

Hospital at Home is an environment that allows me to thrive - Martin Tobin
Martin Tobin is a Band 4 Assistant Practitioner - Rehabilitation and has been working in Hospital at Home for the last 6 years. In his blog he shares his thoughts about working in Hospital at Home and his career journey. Read Martin Tobins blog.

What a difference a dietitian makes - Aaron Fraser
Aaron Fraser is a dietitian in the NHS Forth Valley Hospital at Home service. Find out how he has been making a real difference to the people in the service through his dietetic expertise and passion for improvement.

A peak behind the curtain - Gail Black
There are many non-clinical roles that support the work of clinical staff in H@H services. Learn about how Gail Black supports the service in the Western Isles in her role as senior coordinator.

How a pharmacist can help your service thrive - Aoife McGrath
Aoife McGrath has been working as a pharmacist in the Acute Care at Home team since 2015. Read Aoife's blog to learn about her role in the service and why you need a pharmacist in your service.

Why I love working in Hospital at Home - Susan Steel
Initially joining the service to get her competency signed off, Susan Steel enjoyed working in Hospital at Home so much she decided to stay! Find out what Susan loves about her role in the service by reading her blog.

Seeing the whole picture - Angela Fairnie
For nurse practitioner Angela, seeing patients in their own homes has many benefits. From gaining a better understanding of their living situations to the engagement with families and carers. Find out more about Angela's experiences in the service in her blog.

A day in the life of a Hospital at Home nurse – Richard Wells-Holland
Hospital At Home is a service gradually growing across Scotland and Healthcare Improvement Scotland is helping NHS boards establish and develop their services. But what is it like to deliver such a service? How does it work? NHS Lanarkshire Hospital At Home nurse Richard Wells-Holland explains a typical day. Read more

The many reasons to love Hospital at Home – Dr Claire Steel
Dr Claire Steel ended up in Hospital At Home by accident. A snowboarding accident to be precise. But she quickly became a convert to the benefits it brings to patients. As our organisation’s ihub works with NHS boards across Scotland to establish more Hospital At Home services, Claire explains why every NHS board should introduce Hospital At Home as part of the service they provide to people requiring acute care. Read more

How Hospital at Home is changing outcomes for patients – Claire Ritchie
NHS Lanarkshire started out on a journey to deliver Hospital At Home to patients 10 years ago. As our organisation continues to work with NHS boards to introduce Hospital At Home, Claire Ritchie explains the journey she went on to develop the service with Graham Ellis and Trudi Marshall from NHS Lanarkshire, and the huge importance of people seeing the service in action to fully understand the benefits it brings. Read more

Patient stories

Bridget Henry's Hospital at Home experience
Bridget Henry took unwell over Christmas 2023 with Pneumonia. In this patient story, Bridget and her daughter describe their experience with Hospital at Home.

A helping hand to be treated at home – Shirley MacKenzie
Shirley MacKenzie’s mother, Agnes, was able to spend her final months in her own house, thanks to Hospital at Home. Here, Shirley tells us in her own words how much it meant that her mum was able to have her final wish of a peaceful death at home.

Examples from existing services

Teams from across Scotland and the UK have shared the locally developed resources below in the hopes that they could help you with your service. In the list you will find examples of guidelines, algorithms, job descriptions, frameworks and SOPs.

These resources have been shared as they were useful to the team when they were developed though may now be out of date. They have been shared as the information in them may be useful for newer teams to build on and adapt to their local context. We aim to continually build on this section so if you have locally developed resources you are happy to share, please contact a member of the team (his.communitycare@nhs.scot).

Thank you to all of the teams who have shared their resources to date.

Standard operating procedures (SOP)

Job descriptions

Patient leaflets

Other resources

Session resources

Learning sessions

Here you will find recordings and summary reports from learning sessions focusing on themes such as staffing, governance and technology. Each session includes presentations from existing and developing teams and has a wealth of useful information.

Flash Reports

Recordings

For further information please contact the ihub team on his.communitycare@nhs.scot.