Enabling Mrs B to recover at home after surgery

Being cared for at home after major surgery meant that Mrs B could recover without being separated from her husband and four-year-old son for a long period. Normally patients who undergo joint replacement surgery are in hospital for many days, but Mrs B, a wife and mum-of-one, was out in a matter of days following her last two procedures.

Despite being only 46, Mrs B has undergone a string of operations to replace joints damaged by years of rheumatoid arthritis, which she has suffered from since her early twenties. She has had both shoulders replaced and both knees, and is due to have a hip replaced later this year.

Last April, after having an artificial knee removed and a temporary replacement put in, she was out of hospital after ten days. The following October, after a repeat procedure, she was out in just four days. Once home, she was treated by nurses from MediHome, which provides acute home healthcare services including nursing and physiotherapy to patients in a home environment.

On a daily basis, the nurses checked her temperature and blood pressure, and gave her antibiotics through a drip (PICC line) in her arm. She said: "MediHome were wonderful. The nurses were all so nice and caring. They chatted with you as well. And because of them, I was able to be at home with my husband and son, whereas without them I would have been in hospital for about six weeks. My son is a little angel and very undemanding, but it still would have been very hard on him for me to be away from home for that long." She added: “I am really pleased with the service MediHome provided. Staying in hospital for long periods of time is not nice."