More patients than ever in the South East – including here on the Isle of Wight – are reaping the benefits of virtual wards and Hospital at Home innovations, new data has revealed.
Analysis by NHS England South East shows that, in 2024, there were over 85,000 admissions to virtual wards across the South East, an 18% increase from 2023. Over 175,000 patients have been cared for in the South East since the Virtual Ward Programme began in April 2022, more than any other region in England.
The data confirms the region’s commitment to ensuring patients receive care in the most appropriate and convenient setting to aid their recovery, with virtual wards enabling patients to be discharged safely and quickly to receive hospital-standard care and monitoring from home.
In the South East, there are over 2,000 virtual ward ‘beds’ with teams of healthcare professionals providing face-to-face and remote care thanks to cutting-edge technology, as the NHS focuses on moving care from hospitals into the community.
Virtual wards have many benefits for patients including improving patient outcomes and improving patients’ experience of healthcare. They have also been shown to prevent hospital admissions and attendance and provide a cost-effective alternative to care, meaning hospital beds are available for those who require in-hospital care, helping the NHS respond to continued growing demand.*
Dr Shahed Ahmad, NHS England South East’s Medical Director for System Improvement and Professional Standards, says:
“Virtual wards have an important role to play in shifting care from hospitals into the community and supporting the best outcomes for patients. We can now provide care for a much greater range and number of patients in their own homes, instead of them needing to be admitted to a hospital.
“We know that, by supporting patients to recover at home safely with home comforts and friends and family close by, they can regain their independence and recover well.
Article continues below this advertisement “We are incredibly proud of the world-leading virtual wards across the South East, with staff doing a brilliant job, using state of the art technology to monitor patients and provide regular check-ins. It’s a fantastic example of the system working together to provide the best outcomes for patients.”
Good way of trying to put a positive spin on understaffing in the NHS.
I wonder if they can talk me through online for my prostate examination..I have the general idea of what to do.
I’m sure you’ll get the thumbs up.
If successful why employ unnesseccary Doctors and nurses.
Lol
…’a cost-effective alternative to care’..
So is shutting the hospital doors. On wait, that’s exactly what’s happening. I was seen face to face by a ‘healthcare professional’ worker, not a doctor, or a nurse, who actually GOOGLED my symptoms for best guess. Reaping the benefits by counting bums on seats and trumpeting 175,000 cannot be counted as a patient benefit, only as a private service provider benefit. Patient benefit has yet to be determined. My guess is that in a few years time, many patients will have fallen through the safety net without proper care and someone somewhere will look to the sky and wonder what went wrong?