The Leeds Children’s Hospital Oncology Virtual Ward team recently welcomed visitors from health-tech partner Inhealthcare following the launch of the Inhealthcare digital platform for virtual wards at Leeds Teaching Hospital.
Visitors met with virtual ward staff as well as well as ten-year-old Leukaemia patient Jacob who is currently benefitting from care on the Children’s Oncology Virtual Ward. The Inhealthcare team were delighted to see and hear how the platform is having a huge impact for families like Jacob’s.
Virtual wards allow teams to discharge patients sooner, allowing them to be cared for safely without being in a hospital bed. The platform provides an app to connect hospital and patients, enabling close monitoring of their condition by the virtual ward clinical team.
Jacob was recently diagnosed with Leukaemia and began the induction stage of treatment including chemotherapy, this usually means a hospital stay of four to five weeks. Thanks to the Children’s Oncology Virtual Ward, Jacob and his family have been able to spend this time at home, only coming into hospital once a week for treatment.
The rest of the week, Jacob is cared for at home on the virtual ward. This means that his parents – Matthew and Sarah – can look after him and they are connected to the hospital through the Inhealthcare app.
Sarah and Matthew are prompted to carry out specific observations and answer questions about how Jacob is feeling on the app. Responses are carefully monitored by the virtual ward clinical team, based in the hospital. If anything needs further investigation or discussion, this can be done through instant messages or by phone.
The Inhealthcare app can be accessed by patients and carers on a mobile phone.
Jacob’s parents told us how being on the virtual ward instead of in hospital has helped them through a difficult time. Jacob is much happier at home, sleeping in his own bed, surrounded by family, able to maintain a more normal routine. Jacob’s parents have noticed that he eats and sleeps better at home which is hugely beneficial for his wellbeing and recovery.
Sarah and Matthew both feel that being at home makes a huge difference to Jacob’s treatment and recovery as well as their wellbeing as parents who would otherwise be split between home and hospital to look after Jacob and his older brother.
Matthew said:
‘We were concerned that going from round the clock hospital care to just being on our own at home, we might feel isolated. However, being on the virtual ward has felt safe and comfortable. Hospital staff are so accessible through the app and one the phone if we have any concerns. The app is so easy to use even if you’re not tech-savvy and it feels personalised as there’s a real person monitoring Jacob’
Natalie Duffield (Sales and Marketing Director at Inhealthcare) added:
‘We are so incredibly proud to be working with Leeds Children’s Hospital and making a difference to families like Jacob’s and we wish them the very best on Jacob’s recovery journey.’