Providing solutions which enable patients to receive care closer to their homes
Taking care closer to patients’ homes is one of the goals of many PCTs. Government policy directives set out in the ‘Next Stage Review’ aims to move some patient care from acute hospitals into primary care settings, yet all too often PCTs struggle as there isn’t the infrastructure to provide patient services within the community.
PCTs and Trusts have to think outside of the box in order to achieve this policy goal. Thanks to Vanguard Healthcare, patient care can be delivered in a truly cost-effective and highly professional manner with the use of a mobile healthcare facility.
The use of a mobile unit removes the need for capital spending. It also allows services to be more flexible and reactive to local needs. These facilities can be used in conjuction with an existing NHS community hospital or on a town centre car park or in a neighbourhood location.
Procedures which can be carried out include endoscopies, orthopaedic surgery, urology and cataract operations. Add to that the total flexibility of where a mobile unit can be situated and it’s easy to see how Vanguard Healthcare can help providers deliver care direct to the patient.
Read on to learn more about pioneering examples of how Vanguard’s mobile facilities provide multi-point access to outpatient facilities, benefiting thousands of patients, especially the elderly, and how a NHS Trust have utilised them as an innovative way of maintaining care close to patients.
More than 40,000 cataract patients have already received treatment closer to home
Two fleets of Vanguard’s clinical facilities, contracted by Netcare UK, are pioneering examples of how mobile units can provide the ultimate flexible and cost-effective solution to treating patients away from acute centres.
As part of the Department of Health’s (DH) objective to drive down waiting times for cataract patients, Netcare UK used Vanguard mobile units to treat NHS cataract patients across the UK. The aim was to deliver the care as locally as possible to the patients.
Dozens of sites were used as regular venues to host the temporary facilities. At each location, Vanguard’s mobile ophthalmic outpatient unit was installed to provide a facility for patients to be assessed for treatment. Following the assessment a mobile theatre and mobile ward were installed to provide an ultra modern and highly advanced operating facility, designated as a NHS Treatment Centre. Providing the opportunity to receive surgery close to home has been welcomed widely throughout the patient community.
In the UK no less than one in four people develop a cataract by the age of 75. Treating 10,000 patients within an 11-month period (at a rate of almost eight times faster than traditional NHS services), these mobile centres played an important role in speeding up access to treatment for patients and improving the quality of care and patient experience.
Netcare UK began working with Vanguard and its mobile treatment centres in February 2004, visiting some 30 sites throughout the country on a regular basis. In February 2005, the DH announced that waits for NHS cataract operations had ended and that, by the end of the preceding month, no one was waiting more than three months.
DH statistics show that Primary Care Trusts using the Netcare service today only have waiting times of around six weeks. By June 2009, Vanguard’s units had treated over 40,000 patients.
Cinty Yarnell, Regional Operations Manager for Netcare, said: “While this has been a very flexible working relationship between Netcare and Vanguard, logistically it has been very difficult because of the size of the units, weather conditions at times and the frequency of moves and distance between locations. Vanguard’s transport and engineering back-up team has, however, provided an excellent service. As we all have the same goal of providing a service to patients, communication is paramount and has been key to the success of the partnership.”
Mobile units help keep treatment local in Gloucestershire
The logistics team at Vanguard Healthcare always think outside the box. There are few limitations as to where a Vanguard mobile unit can be placed. However in some instances when access to a hospital is limited, alternative sites have to be sourced.
Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust which provides surgical and clinical services to Gloucestershire PCT (operator of both Tewkesbury Hospital and Stroud General Hospital), formed an innovative partnership with Vanguard so that patients in Gloucestershire could benefit from treatment close to their home.
Stroud General Hospital underwent a £1.8 million refurbishment of its operating theatres and endoscopy unit. Health managers at the Trust called on the services of Vanguard to supply a Mobile Day Surgery facility to ensure treatment could still be delivered locally.
However the sheer incline approaching Stroud General Hospital meant it was not possible to locate the mobile unit in the hospital car park. Therefore an alternative site within a Focus DIY store car park was secured.
The unit remained in the Focus DIY store car park for a number of weeks allowing patient care to remain in the Stroud area and thereby avoiding the disruptive, costly and time-consuming transfer of patients to nearby hospitals.
Steve Peak, former Director of Service Delivery of Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “It’s all about keeping treatment close to people’s homes and this new kind of partnership has already proved invaluable for our patients. We have had good reports from patients who have been very impressed with both the environment and the service provided by the mobile theatre.”
All operations within the unit were carried out by Trust medical staff supported by PCT nursing staff and Vanguard clinical personnel. Procedures included arthroscopy, cataracts, hand surgery, urology and pain management procedures.
The Vanguard national fleet treats patients across the UK and Ireland. However it was while this day surgery unit was operational in Stroud at the superstore location that the 100,000th patient to undergo a procedure within a mobile unit was reached.
Vanguard’s mobile units mean that state-of-the-art day surgery facilities can be provided wherever there is a need in the community.
