Virtual wards: Will new care model relieve hospital pressures and uphold patient safety?

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust has recently welcomed NHS colleagues from across the county for a virtual ward national conference, to share the best practice on virtual ward success and looking at the future of this innovative model of care. 

What are virtual wards?

Northumbria Healthcare first introduced virtual wards to the Trust in 2022. Virtual wards, which are also known as hospital at home services, support patients who would otherwise be in hospital, to receive the acute care, monitoring and treatment they require in the comfort of their own home. 

This includes being in regular contact with health professionals and the support of technologies that help patients monitor their health at home, such as blood pressure and oxygen level readings.   

This model of care has the aim to prevent avoidable hospital admissions and supporting patients with early discharge.

Since the introduction, the service has been welcomed by patients as they feel that being treated in a familiar environment, with the help of their loved ones has been beneficial in their recovery. 

The chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Dr Birju Bartoli opened the event and said how Northumbria had successfully delivered high quality and safe care to patients in their own homes. 

Dr Bartoli also emphasised the challenges that this model faces, such as clinical and organisational scepticism and the time needed to demonstrate the full benefits. 

This was further added by Dr Cath Monaghan, the clinical lead for Virtual Wards at NHS England, who said that ‘hospital-at-home services align with a lot of the national drivers included in the recently published Darzi report which focuses on moving care into the community and closer to home for patients. 

It’s a way of delivering safe, quality care without the risks associated with a hospital admission including hospital-acquired infections, she said.

The pros and cons 

As a medical negligence specialist, I've started to see a shift from patients having primarily hospital-led care, to more community focused care, especially with the rise in virtual wards. 

The model has benefits as it allows the patient to still receive care and monitoring that they require in the comfort of their own home. Also, preventing the spread of hospital acquired infections, which can slow recovery. Also, potentially delivering costs savings by patients being at home.

However, with the rise of virtual wards, there is still a lack of understanding about how they work in practice. Challenges do seem to include whether patients can still receive the same quality of clinical care and attention at home, that they would in a traditional hospital setting. 

Also, the risk of managing health inequalities, as virtual wards heavily rely on digital technology and whether this would have a disproportionate impact on certain groups of the population.

Conclusion

It will be interesting to see, when more trusts start to introduce this new model of care, if this relieves pressure on hospitals for avoidable admissions and the availability of beds for acute care. But also, whether the model provides a safe level of care to patients and whether virtual wards will work effectively in all areas. 

Find out more about Irwin Mitchell's expertise in supporting patients and families with care concerns at our dedicated medical negligence section.