SA Health’s My Home Hospital receives national accreditation – no ambulance ramping, no queues, no infections

It’s the Australia-first hospital without ambulance ramping, bed block or risk of infection from other patients. And it’s just received national recognition.

South Australia has its first fully accredited “virtual hospital” – with no ambulance ramping, bed block or risk of catching infections from other patients.

Officials say the rapidly expanding scheme could negate the need to build a new bricks-and-mortar hospital in the future to handle rising demand, as patients are treated at home with hospital-level care.

The Calvary Medibank Joint Venture (CMJV), which delivers SA Health’s My Home Hospital service, has become one of the first stand-alone virtual hospitals providing acute care to be nationally accredited to the National Safety and Quality Health Service standards (NSQHS).

Its patients receive online and face-to-face hospital-level care in their homes and in community settings, in a major step away from delivering treatment in acute care hospitals, as accelerated by the pandemic.

National accreditation adds to the success of the service in easing pressure on hospitals by providing patients with additional choice about where to receive their healthcare, often from the comfort of their own home.

This is turn frees up hospital beds, eases strain on emergency departments and cuts ramping.

Following My Home Hospital’s launch in 2020, Wellbeing SA chief executive Lyn Dean told The Advertiser: “If we can get these working at scale, you wouldn’t necessarily need another new hospital.”

The NSQHS standards provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care patients can expect from health services.

Assessment includes consideration of a service’s standard of clinical governance, medication safety, communication processes and partnering with consumers.

Since its launch in January 2021, My Home Hospital has provided care to more than 7200 patients across metropolitan Adelaide, the regions surrounding Gawler, Mount Barker and the Southern Fleurieu Peninsula and local areas from Encounter Bay to Goolwa.

It provides hospital-level care to patients with doctors, nurses, allied health practitioners, X-rays and blood tests, medication and other support services.

CMJV medical director Dr Emily Kirkpatrick. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Naomi Jellicoe

My Home Hospital accepts referrals for eligible patients 24 hours a day, every day of the year, for treatment of a range of conditions that would otherwise require a patient going to hospital, such as:

INFECTIONS requiring intravenous antibiotics, including cellulitis, pneumonia and mastitis;

RESPIRATORY conditions;

HEART failure;

GASTROINTESTINAL conditions;

POST-OPERATIVE care and other conditions for which in-home care is considered safe and appropriate.

Emergency department clinicians, medical specialists, nurse practitioners, paramedics and GPs can refer patients to My Home Hospital, under the CMJV overseen by general manager Sarah McRae.

CMJV medical director Dr Emily Kirkpatrick said the virtual hospital was a prime example of how healthcare providers can partner with government to deliver a patient-centred service taking pressure off the health system.

“We are proud to be accredited as one of the first stand-alone virtual hospitals in Australia delivering acute care,” she said.

“Our virtual hospital offering will help build a stronger and more sustainable health system, providing greater choice for patients in how their care is delivered.”

SA Health Integrated Care Systems executive director Jeanette Walters said: “This is a great recognition of a service we know provides a positive patient experience.

“Becoming nationally accredited supports the continued development and growth of My Home Hospital bringing hospital into the home for more South Australians.”