A monitored bedside set up in a family home

SERVICES / ICU AT HOME

A monitored bed, in the room he already knows

Ventilator, monitor, suction and infusion, installed in one room of your house, staffed by ICU-experienced nurses on a two-nurse rotation and governed by an intensivist. Set up in six hours.

WHEN IT IS THE RIGHT CALL

A stable patient who needs monitoring, not intervention — step-down after an ICU stay, long-term ventilation, a tracheostomy, or end-of-life care the family wants at home.

WHEN IT IS NOT

An unstable patient who may need surgery, dialysis, transfusion or an unplanned procedure belongs in a hospital, and we will say so. Home ICU is safe because the patient is predictable; if the intensivist judges otherwise, we decline the case and help you find a bed instead.

WHAT ARRIVES IN THE ROOM

The full installation, itemised

Everything below is rented and included in the daily rate. Nothing is sold to you, and nothing is marked up — equipment invoices are passed through at cost on request.

Hospital bed, 5-function: Electric, with rails
Air-loss mattress: Alternating pressure
Ventilator: Invasive or non-invasive
Multi-para monitor: ECG, SpO2, NIBP, temp
Oxygen supply: Concentrator + cylinder backup
Suction machine: Plus a manual backup
Syringe and infusion pumps: Two channels
Nebuliser: Mains and battery
Feeding pump: If NG or PEG fed
Power backup: UPS, 4 hours minimum
Consumables stock: 7 days, replenished
Sharps and clinical waste: Collected weekly

All equipment is serviced before installation and checked at every shift change. A biomedical engineer is on call for faults, with replacement inside four hours.

FROM YOUR CALL TO A MONITORED BED

Six hours, and what happens in each

The usual reason for the call is a discharge scheduled for tomorrow morning. This is the sequence when you phone the careline today.

Hour 0: Clinical triage on the phone; Our intensivist speaks to the treating doctor, not to a coordinator. Diagnosis, current support, medications and stability are established before anyone quotes you a price.
Hour 1: Home survey; A nurse assessor and a technician check the room: door width for the bed, power load and earthing, ventilation, lift access, water, and where the family will sleep.
Hour 2: Written quotation; One daily rate covering equipment, nursing rotation, consumables and doctor review, with anything excluded listed by name. No deposit is taken before you accept.
Hour 3: Installation begins; Bed, mattress, oxygen, monitor and pumps installed and tested. Existing furniture moved back rather than removed where possible.
Hour 5: Nurse handover; The first nurse arrives before the patient, reads the hospital notes, and sets up charts, alarm limits and the medication schedule.
Hour 6: Patient home, family briefed; Twenty minutes on what each alarm means, which is urgent, what to touch and what never to touch, and the two numbers to call. Written on one page and left on the wall.

GOVERNANCE

What makes a home ICU safe rather than merely equipped

Anyone can rent you a ventilator. These four are the difference.

Two nurses, never one

Twelve-hour shifts, both ICU-experienced, with a named substitute for days off. We do not staff a 24-hour case with a single live-in nurse, whatever the saving.

An intensivist who owns the case

Not a rotating panel. One doctor writes the plan, reviews twice weekly in person, and is reachable by the nurse at any hour. Their name is on your quotation.

A written escalation protocol

For each patient: which vitals trigger a call, which trigger the doctor coming, and which trigger an ambulance. Taped to the wall so a night nurse never has to improvise.

A hospital already arranged

Before setup we agree the receiving hospital and route, and keep an ambulance provider on standby contract. Transfer decisions are made in minutes, not phone calls.