More than 100 respiratory patients benefit from ImpACT+’s virtual ward
More than 100 respiratory patients have now benefitted from care packages delivered by a virtual ward which provides ongoing care and support to patients in the community throughout the pandemic.
The ward is operated by the ImpACT+ (Improving Adult Respiratory Care Together) Service at UHDB and has been a much needed and well received service during Covid-19.
The ImpACT+ service is a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) consisting of respiratory consultants, specialist nurses, physiotherapists and occupational therapists, offering on-going support and care to respiratory patients in the community and those in hospital in the South Derbyshire area.
Since its launch on 25 March 2020, the virtual ward has played a crucial role in caring for our patients this year, adapting to the challenges posed by the pandemic, while the service’s telephone helpline ‘Lung Line’, which is open seven days a week, has provided invaluable support to patients in their own homes.
Robin Evans, Clinical Service Manager for ImpACT+, said: “The service has been a really good asset for the Trust in the past year. As the latest wave has hit, we’ve seen a huge increase in the number of patients accessing the service, with more than 70 patients being discharged through the virtual ward in 2021.
“The team has done a fantastic job and I am very proud of how much work they've taken on in such a short space of time and the commitment they’ve greeted this with. They have been going the extra mile and have not let the standard of care or dedication to their patients waver at all.”
As the pandemic has progressed, the team has had to continually adapt their care packages, as younger, more acutely unwell patients have been admitted during the most recent wave.
Robin added: “More recently, the patients have been coming out of the other side of the virus in a really debilitated state feeling very fatigued and requiring a large amount of oxygen. This has a knock-on effect to all areas of their recovery meaning that we’ve had to continue offering care to some patients for a month after their discharge.”
It is not just support for their physical health that the team has been providing, but emotional support for patients, too.
Robin explained: “We’ve cared for groups of patients from the same families at times, and we’ve been in the unfortunate position where some people have recovered and others have sadly died.
“It’s not just support with their physical recovery, but we’ve had to offer a significant amount of support for the emotional aspects of recovering from Covid-19. Patients have been really appreciative of this and we’ve had some positive feedback from within the Trust as well which is always nice to hear.”