Ambulance crews, when attending to a frail older adult, can call a frailty consultant based at Warwick Hospital and discuss the best possible treatment strategy for that person. This means if hospital care is not thought to be needed, our Trust’s Urgent Community Response team will go out into the community and provide assessment and treatment in a patient’s home environment. If hospital care is thought to be required following the call or after assessment in the community, WMAS will bring the patient directly to FAA, bypassing ED. The ethos of this service is to ensure people are cared for in the right place.
Our virtual ward service allows patients to get hospital-level care at home (including care homes) rather than in hospital. Patients using the service will be monitored in their own home for a short period (usually less than 7 days) by our multi-disciplinary team and have access to assessment, investigations and treatments that are usually provided in hospital. This may allow patients to safely avoid going to hospital or to leave hospital sooner while still accessing the health care they need.
The unit is located on Fairfax ward opposite outpatients, on the same corridor as Nicholas ward at Warwick Hospital.
The service can be contacted by calling 01926 495321 ext 4335.