Publish date: 17 September 2025
Thousands benefit from hospital-level care in comfort of own homes in Northumbria
Thousands of patients in Northumberland and North Tyneside have received care at home rather than in hospital in recent years, with more than 5,000 admissions to Hospital at Home ‘wards’ in the past 17 months alone.
The Hospital at Home initiative was launched nationally in 2022. Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust had a small respiratory Hospital at Home service prior to this, but built capacity as part of the national programme, expanding to now run across multiple specialities.
This puts the trust ahead of the curve in relation to the new NHS 10-year plan, published in July, which includes a core principle that ‘care should happen as locally as it can’ and ‘in a patient’s home if possible’.
Northumbria Healthcare’s Hospital at Home scheme demonstrates the art of the possible with specialties including cardiology, surgery, acute medicine, frailty, respiratory, and its national-first lung oncology ward.
Dr Laura Mackay, a respiratory consultant and community business unit director at Northumbria Healthcare, said: “The range of specialties involved in Hospital at Home underlines how this is not just a means of discharging patients out of hospital more quickly or traditional district or community nursing.
“Both discharge and district nursing are important and remain a focus for us, but Hospital at Home is something extra; it’s a genuine way of providing hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes for patients who would otherwise be in a hospital bed.”
Importantly, patients who have been through the Hospital at Homes wards can really see the benefits.
Pauline Gelson, from Wallsend, was cared for by the respiratory team following a spell in the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital in Cramlington. The first day she was surprised to see Claire Stobart, a respiratory specialist nurse who she knew from clinics at North Tyneside General Hospital.
“She did all my observations and checks, and told me they were there for me,” added Pauline. “She was ringing me at nighttime and gave me a number I could ring if I needed anybody.
“It meant such a lot, because if they hadn’t been coming out for that week, I would have ended up back in hospital. They sorted out anything you needed, prescriptions, nebuliser, and talked you through it.
“You knew they were there at the end of the phone, and you knew they’d come back out and see you if they had to. I think I got better care at home, and I was more confident because I knew they were there.”
Hospital at Home is sometimes referred to as virtual wards, reflecting the use of remote monitoring and other equipment.
Dr Mackay added: “We are now using Hospital at Home because it is a much better description of the service we offer.
“While there is always a place for technology which helps monitor and communicate with patients, our model does not use much remote monitoring equipment.
“Hospital at Home is about improving patient experience. Patients still have face-to-face contact with different healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, therapists and pharmacists. They may visit you at home to provide treatments, carry out tests and assessments, or check on your condition.
“The only difference is that you are in the comfort of your own home rather than in a hospital ward.”
Last year, the trust hosted a national event on this model of care, welcoming NHS colleagues from across the country to share best practice and look to the future.
Find out more in our video playlist, which has experiences from some of our patients and other information about Hospital at Home - Hospital at home - YouTube
Media contact
Ben O'Connell, external communications manager