Hospital at Home: Another Piece of the Armoury Against COVID-19

Hospital at Home (@Home) services are a relatively new concept in healthcare provision aimed at providing acute and semi-acute level-1 hospital care to people in their own homes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to two surges in demand for hospital care. Hospitals have a finite capacity, so alternatives to hospital care were vital to ensure patients received evidence-based treatment in the right place at the right time. Many systems for remote support and monitoring of patients in their own homes with COVID-19 were set up to cope with the surge in demand but for frailer adults and those with more complex needs, face-to-face support was needed. Here, we describe how a well-established @Home service supported pathways of care for patients with COVID-19, particularly older adults living with frailty, including a unique severe COVID-19 treatment pathway.