Dr Emmett McLaughlin, GPST2  -  17 November 2025

During my GPST2 year, I spent six months with the Hospital at Home (H@H) team at University Hospital Wishaw. Before that, I’d completed posts in General Medicine and Paediatrics, so I was really looking forward to seeing how H@H brings acute medical care into the community, allowing patients to receive hospital-level treatment in the comfort of their own homes.

The placement gave me valuable experience in assessing and managing acutely unwell patients outside the hospital setting. Many of the people we looked after were frail older adults with comorbidities, and their care often required a truly holistic approach. Working closely with nurses, advanced practitioners, and allied health professionals, I gained a much better understanding of the importance of teamwork, communication, and shared decision-making when caring for complex patients.

One of the highlights of the placement was being part of such a supportive and dedicated team. The strong bonds within the group created a really positive working environment where everyone looked out for one another. It was the kind of team where people routinely went above and beyond, not just for patients, but for each other too, which made coming to work genuinely enjoyable. That sense of camaraderie and mutual respect was something I found particularly inspiring.

Clinically, the experience helped me grow in confidence when managing risk and making decisions in less controlled environments. It was a great chance to develop my acute medicine skills while still keeping the holistic, person-centred approach that’s so important in general practice. Balancing safety with patient preference, enabling people to stay at home where possible, felt both rewarding and highly relevant to the direction of modern primary care.

From a training point of view, the post contributed to a wide range of GP competencies, and I felt really well supported to keep up with portfolio work and to sit my AKT during the placement. Overall, my time with the Hospital at Home team was both professionally and personally rewarding. It gave me a new appreciation for how acute care can be delivered safely and compassionately in the community, and it’s definitely influenced how I approach patient care in my GP training and beyond.