"A holistic service which jumped into action"

My 83 year old mother was referred by her gp  to the NHS Forth Valley Hospital at Home team following a series of infections in her lungs leading to pressure on her heart. She was very sick, losing weight and finding it hard to breathe just moving around.

I cannot stress enough how blown away we were by the care provided by this team. It’s a holistic service which jumped into action, reviewed and changed all my mother’s medication and a team of nurses came in daily to look after her in the comfort of her own home. Doctors, nurses, occupational health and physios also came in to support her . The most valuable form of support came from a dedicated respiratory nurse called Alison who was a godsend to my mother. She arranged for a review of her medication, picked up prescriptions and brought them into my mother the same day and arranged for a nebuliser and following a deterioration in her health quickly arranged for oxygen to be provided in the home . The team couldn’t have done more to explore every possible intervention, bringing in a respiratory doctor as well to confirm the treatment had covered everything required. Everything was done quickly and efficiently and their caring nature made all the difference to my mother who was very ill .  

I cannot praise this initiative highly enough. This team is a pilot to keep older patients at home and bring the hospital to them and is currently funded for up to 40 patients in the district. As a result of this excellent care, although my mother is still on oxygen but her lung function is improving as a result of several blood tests, ECGs to identify infections and suitable treatments for her heart and lungs, breathing exercises provided to help her lung function and aids to help her movement around the house .