The NHS has delivered on its ambition to roll out 10,000 virtual ward beds by the end of September, new figures show today.
Of that 1,607 virtual ward beds are in the South East and more than 61,000 patients have been admitted and treated on a virtual ward across the region since the programme started in March 2022.
Virtual wards allow patients to get hospital-level care at home safely and in familiar surroundings closer to family, friends, and carers, helping speed up their recovery while freeing up hospital beds for patients who need them. Research shows that people who are treated at home recover at the same rate or faster than those treated in hospital.
There are now 80 Virtual Wards across the South East providing high quality care in patient’s homes. As of September 25 2023, the virtual ward beds occupancy was at 87.5% with a target of 80% for the region.
Dr Alison Taylor, Medical Director for System Improvement and Professional Standards and Senior Responsible Owner (SRO) for the Virtual Wards programme for NHS England South East, said:
“Our world leading virtual ward programme is enabling patients across the South East to receive hospital-level care in their own homes and is keeping them out of hospital and able to recover more quickly.
“We now have 80 virtual wards established across the region which use state of the art technology to monitor patients’ conditions with regular check-ins and provide the most effective level of care in their own homes, where they are most comfortable.
“Staff across the region have done a fantastic job standing up virtual wards to provide hospital level care and support for patients to ensure that they avoid unnecessary admission to hospital.”
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In a virtual ward, new technologies including wearable devices, smart devices, oxygen and blood pressure monitors provide real-time information through apps about a patient’s vital signs, to a dedicated remote team of healthcare professionals. The technology enables healthcare professionals to monitor patients’ conditions and to direct care and support, either virtually or face to face when needed.
What a load of waffle, just hiding the fact that the one hosptial we have here is not coping at all. Get rid of the bloody managers who sit around doing f**k all and bring in some more frontline staff. Stop trying to pull the wool over peoples eyes. What’s next virtual cremation, virtual injections, virtual blood tests, and of course virtual operations.
Of the eleven hospitals which the I.o.W. H.M.C. took over in 1948, plus the one, the Royal National Hospital at Ventnor, which it acquired later, only St. Mary’s remains.
in 1948 there were about 90,000 people living on the island – today, there are over 144,000
your answer is there for all to see – one hospital for 144,000 people, whereas before, it was 12 hospitals for 90,000
And of that extra 54k just how many retired over here to drain scarce resources ?