Hospital at Home evaluation reveals huge cost savings, better outcomes and sky-high patient satisfaction

The potential benefit of treating patients with serious conditions from the comfort of their home is far greater than previously thought – and could save the NHS hundreds of millions of pounds whilst delivering better treatment and higher patient satisfaction, a new study has found.

The most in-depth evaluation of the ‘Hospital at Home’ approach to date has revealed that patients who were cared for via Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust and West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust’s Virtual Hospital, overwhelmingly preferred it to being cared for in hospital.

It cut hospital admissions by almost three days on average, and looking after patients remotely was 80% cheaper than caring for a patient in hospital.  

The study also demonstrates the economic case for investment in the expansion of Virtual Hospital models, with the potential to free up tens of thousands of beds every day and deliver significant benefits.

Key findings from the evaluation, which was based on patients admitted to the HAH service between April 2023 and April 2024, include:

·         Headline savings were £1.33m over 12 months (net).

·         Virtual Hospital Early Supported Discharge patients’ admissions are 2.8 days shorter than comparable controls, on average.

·         Virtual Hospital Care costs around £118.49 per bed day, considerably less than inpatient care of £569.

·         Although patients usually stay longer on the VH pathway to monitor recovery, the evaluation shows significant net financial benefit to the system.

·         Based on reduced length of stay, savings amounted to £486 per Early Supported Discharge patient, and £3,652 per Admission Avoidance patient.

·         95.8% of patients preferred VH care.

·         98.3% of patients feel safe under VH care.

·         90-day Mortality was low, at 4.4%, including expected deaths.

CLCH and West Hertfordshire established the UK's first virtual hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, providing a safe alternative to inpatient care for over 5,000 patients and saving countless bed days.

James Benson, Chief Executive Officer at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust said: “We welcome the findings of this study with WHTH, which clearly demonstrates how the NHS is changing.

“By working smarter with our partners, we can deliver a much more joined-up service, bringing together community skills with hospital level treatment to transform people’s healthcare.”

Matthew Coats, Chief Executive Officer of West Hertfordshire said: “This evaluation underlines the enormous value, impact and benefit of the Hospital at Home approach has for patients, health providers and the taxpayer.”

“Not only does it cut admission times and save millions of pounds which can be spent on supporting other vital services, but it also results in an overwhelmingly positive patient experience, which is the most important factor.  The study found patients preferred it to hospitals and also feel safe and well looked after being cared for from home.”

The findings are consistent with a 3-year study looking at almost 3,000 episodes of care which is being submitted for publication as an academic paper.