Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults & Children with Tracheostomies by improving their Quality of life and where we also provide tailor made solutions to hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!
In the last blog I talked about
INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME, the opportunity of a lifetime!
You can check out last week’s episode by clicking on the link here.
In this week’s blog I want to look at a ground breaking study that provides evidence that the implementation of Home Mechanical ventilation with BIPAP for COPD Patients reduces Hospital admissions!
Clinical trial provides evidence: Mechanical Home ventilation reduces Hospital readmission for COPD Patients!
I let the trial results speak for itself below. It’s just more evidence that with taking more and more Patients home with technology and the right nursing skills that are needed, significant quality of life improvements, significant cost savings can be realised and Hospital/Intensive Care beds can be freed up.
Here is a link to the findings of the study or you can just read the article below
New hope for patients with severe lung disease
Patients suffering from severe lung disease could see their lives transformed thanks to a ‘game-changing’ clinical trial carried out by UK experts and led by the team from the Lane Fox Respiratory Service based at St Thomas’ Hospital in London.
The results of the trial were revealed at the European Respiratory Society’s International Congress 2016, held at the ExCel centre.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is one of the world’s biggest killers, but the addition of a home ventilator to oxygen treatment is reducing admissions to hospital as well as maintaining patients’ quality of life.
In the UK alone, approximately 30,000 people die from COPD every year. Roughly one million people have been diagnosed with the condition with another two million undiagnosed, according to the British Lung Foundation.
The HOT-HMV trial (Home Oxygen Therapy-Home Mechanical Ventilation) – which involved giving selected patients a breathing machine to be used in their home in addition to oxygen therapy – was found to reduce readmissions to hospital following an acute infection.
Respiratory experts Professor Nicholas Hart and Dr Patrick Murphy, who co-ordinated the UK-wide trial from St Thomas’ Hospital, say the trial results could pave the way for a complete change in the way that the most severely affected COPD patients across the world are treated.
Professor Hart explains: “The only current treatment we have to give these patients is oxygen therapy, but now we can give them oxygen as well as a ventilator in their home. We have managed to reduce the likelihood of readmission to hospital by almost 50%.
“In the trial we used a home ventilator that co-ordinates itself with the individual patient’s breathing. The mask ventilator machine works by blowing in air and oxygen to keep oxygen levels high and carbon dioxide, the waste gas, low.”
The trial was carried out thanks to funding and equipment from manufacturers Philips Respironics and ResMed, and Guy’s and St Thomas’ Charity.
Ronnie Ward, 74, from Brighton, has suffered from COPD for five years and uses his home ventilator every night, to support his breathing. Since being recruited for the trial, he and his wife Julie, 55, have had to make far fewer trips to hospital.
“Ronnie was in and out of hospital, sometimes spending weeks and months on the wards. Coming back and forth and spending so much time in hospital was stressful and very demoralising,” says Julie.
“We were finding that just weeks after he’d been discharged from hospital, Ronnie would need to be readmitted because he was struggling to breathe again. Using the breathing machine every night has taken a lot of pressure off us.”
Meanwhile, the trial follow-up will continue, as patients are monitored for survival rates over the next three and five years.
“These results are extremely promising but the work will continue. So far we have found that patients using home oxygen with a home ventilator device are two-thirds less likely to be readmitted within 28 days,” says Professor Hart.
“This is very important because not only does it maintain a patient’s quality of life but also it significantly reduces pressures on NHS budgets. At Guy’s and St Thomas’ around 1,000 patients are admitted each year with COPD. If we can keep them comfortable at home for longer, this will have a big impact.”
Related Pages
Given that we are the first accredited service provider in Australia bringing much needed Intensive Care Nursing skills into the community, we of course support the findings of the study and we can support bringing more Patients home with severe lung disease/COPD.
We are wishing you and your family a merry Christmas and a happy and healthy new year 2018!
Thank you for all your support!
If you want to find out how we can help you to get your loved one out of Intensive Care including palliative care or Long-term acute care(also nursing home) or if you find that you have insufficient support for your loved one at home on a ventilator, if you want to know how to get funding for our service or if you have any questions please send me an email to [email protected] or call on one of the numbers below.
Australia/New Zealand +61 41 094 2230
USA/Canada +1 415-915-0090
UK/Ireland +44 118 324 3018
Also, check out our careers section here
www.intensivecareathome.com/careers
We are currently hiring ICU/PICU nurses for clients in Melbourne, Sunbury and in South Gippsland/Victoria.
We are an NDIS, TAC(Victoria) and DVA(Department of Veteran affairs) approved community service provider in Australia.
We have also been part of the Royal Melbourne health accelerator program for innovative health care companies earlier this year!
https://www.thermh.org.au/news/innovation-funding-announced-melbourne-health-accelerator
Thank you for tuning into this week’s blog.
This is Patrik Hutzel from INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME and I see you again next week in another update!
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