Acute Care at Home

The Acute Care at Home service has been operational since August 2016. We are a Care of the Elderly service aimed at providing hospital level care in your own home for patients aged 65 years and over, in order to prevent admission to hospital. We can also facilitate an early discharge back home if you are already an inpatient in Altnagelvin Hospital.

We have a multidisciplinary team, which includes;

Consultant Geriatrician
Specialty Doctors
Pharmacist
Nurses
Occupational Therapist
Physiotherapist
Support Workers
Admin staff

Patients can be referred to the service via their GP, Northern Ireland Ambulance Service and community teams such as Community Respiratory Team. We also receive referrals from Altnagelvin Hospital Emergency Department and Wards to help facilitate discharge back home for elderly patients where appropriate.

Upon discharge from our service, we will also make referrals to other services where appropriate. This can include referrals for x-rays or scans, and referrals to other specialties such Cardiology, Respiratory, Memory service, District Nurses etc.

Our motto is:

“Home – a great place to grow old”

Our Service

We treat and manage many different conditions in your home such as:

Chest infections
Urinary tract infections
Exacerbation of COPD
Cellulitis
Heart failure
Dehydration
Any other acute conditions

Our multidisciplinary team meets daily to review the progress and response of patients to their management plan. We are patient centred and provide a holistic service which will often include input from our:

Pharmacist to review current medications, discuss their ongoing need, and liaise with GP and community pharmacy about any changes we make,
Physiotherapist to assess patients’ mobility and provide aids or period of in-home exercises or rehabilitation if this is required, or
Occupational Therapist to assess patients’ function in the home and ability to carry out general care tasks.

Goals will be identified and agreed with the patient, their family/ caregivers, and our team. Patients will be referred or signposted to other community services as needed at the time of discharge from Acute Care at Home.