For more than three decades, Prince of Wales Hospital has been quietly reshaping what hospital care can look like, and it all started with a bold idea: what if patients could safely recover at home, with hospital-level care brought to them?
Today, Hospital in the Home (HITH) is an essential part of modern healthcare, but back in the late 1980s, it was revolutionary and continues to evolve and expand today.
The program began when Geriatric Medicine and Orthopaedic Surgery teams joined forces to rethink recovery for older patients. Instead of long hospital stays, a dedicated team began providing rehabilitation directly in the comfort of people’s homes. It didn’t take long for the idea to grow. By the early 1990s, the service expanded beyond orthopaedics, offering home-based rehabilitation for more patient groups and even launching the first home-based pulmonary rehabilitation service in NSW.
In 1995, Prince of Wales Hospital became one of Australia’s first hospitals to deliver acute care at home, including IV antibiotics and clot-prevention treatments. A series of clinical trials soon proved what patients already experienced for themselves:
- 25% fewer readmissions
- 19% lower mortality
- higher patient satisfaction (compared with in-hospital care)
- 26.5% reduced costs.
The impact was so significant that POWH was invited to mentor 17 hospitals around the country to build their own HITH services. Staff here even went on to establish the Hospital in the Home Society of Australasia, which is now the national body for HITH programs.
Today, HITH continues to grow as a more comfortable, more dignified and safer way for patients to receive care. From elderly patients avoiding unnecessary hospital stays to people recovering faster because they can heal in the comfort of their home.
And this is where our community makes the biggest difference. Donations help fund future innovations that allow clinicians to continue improving care. Hospital in the Home remains one of the great Prince of Wales Hospital success stories. One that continues to evolve and change lives every single day with continuous support from the donor community.
“Prince of Wales Hospital continues to educate and be a leader within the Hospital in the Home space across NSW.”
– Dr Martin Mackertich, A/General Manager, Prince of Wales Hospital