Vulnerable patients in Derbyshire are being offered treatment by DHU Healthcare as part of an improved service to reduce the risk of complications for people with COVID-19.
DHU Healthcare is a not-for-profit, Community Interest Company that provides NHS services including 111, Urgent Care services and Out of Hours care to patients across Derbyshire and the rest of the Midlands. In 2021, the organisation launched a clinical service that provided a number of treatments to reduce the risk of serious illness that can arise amongst vulnerable people testing positive for Covid-19.
It was the first time in the UK that such medication was available outside of a hospital setting and was designed to reduce the risk of serious illness and a hospital admission.
This essential and potentially life-saving initiative is now accessible digitally which means that if an ‘at risk’ individual tests positive for COVID…all they have to do is fill in a short online form and will be contacted and assessed by a clinician to discuss treatment options.
Better experience for patients
Kirsty Osborn is Deputy Director for Urgent Care at DHU Healthcare, she said: “When we introduced them, these treatments and clinics were an essential part of learning to live with the virus. Over time it has evolved and we continue to provide it for patients who test positive but have underlying health conditions that could put them at risk of a hospital admission.
“We are now much better at recognising who will benefit the most from this form of treatment so, to speed up the process and ensure we can provide it in a more timely manner, we have devised a digital form that takes a matter of minutes to complete. The patient won’t have to wait in a queue, be referred or triaged; if they have underlying health conditions, the form will come straight through to us and we can contact the patient promptly to speak to them and take it from there.”
The form can be accessed via this link (Click here) asking where the person lives, the nature of their underlying health condition, basic personal details such as name, date of birth and contact details before a checklist of their Covid related symptoms. This form then goes directly to the clinical team who will call the patient back and assess their need for treatment.
Covid remains a concern
So far since December 2021, the team have undertaken 7500 assessments and provided treatment to more than 2000 people, greatly reducing the risk of developing serious illness.
Kirsty added, “We know that the World Health Organisation has downgraded Covid-19 but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t still a concern to health professionals. Just like Influenza, as a respiratory condition it still has the potential to cause very serious illness so, alongside ongoing vaccination, it’s important to do what we can to prevent that from happening and reduce the pressure on our health system.
“At DHU Healthcare, we’ve worked very closely with Derby and Derbyshire ICB and other key system partners, to do what we can to prevent serious illness and protect all resources within the NHS to make sure it’s there and working efficiently for those who need it. By doing what we can to stop people becoming acutely ill in the first place, we can alleviate that pressure on our NHS services at a critical time.”