HITH4HIPS

HITH4HIPS – Feasibility study trialling hospital in the home (HITH) following low-trauma hip fracture

HITH programs utilise ‘virtual beds’ and are promoted to avoid hospital admissions and to help people get home faster after being admitted to an acute hospital bed. Hospital lengths of stay are protracted at Liverpool Hospital and protracted stays are a problem for the hospital as it causes bed block (new patients cannot get admitted) and patients may be exposed to more hospital-based harm simply because they stay longer.

HITH programs are recommended following low trauma (osteoporotic hip fracture), but they are not used commonly for this patient population. If such programs are safe for people who are eligible and also reduce the demand for hospital beds, then the provision of HITH programs represent a real opportunity to improve the hip fracture care pathway at Liverpool Hospital and elsewhere where protracted hospitals stays are evident after hip fracture.