Since the start of the region’s Virtual Wards Programme, over 110,000 patients in the South East have been able to receive hospital level urgent care from their home.

The programme launched in April 2022, and whilst some patients are transferred to a virtual ward after an initial stay in hospital (as an ‘early supported discharge’), the majority of patients have been able to avoid any kind of hospital admission as part of their spell of care.

A recent independent evaluation by PPL of the South East programme analysed over 22,000 spells of care and found that virtual wards in South East England are associated with a positive impact on non-elective (NEL) hospital activity. On average 1 NEL admission ‘avoided’ was shown to be correlated with 2.5 virtual ward admissions, with some more mature virtual wards achieving a 1:1 association between the ‘avoided’ non-elective admissions and virtual ward activity.

Dr Syed Hasan, South East Virtual Wards and Virtual Care Lead, said: “Feedback from patients, carers and clinicians across the South East tells us that people prefer this delivery of care for their relatives. I am delighted that this unique evaluation has shown that virtual wards work in the South East, and that their expansion is good for patients and good for the NHS.”

Kent and Medway ICB admit over 500 patients to their virtual wards every week and have been able to support patients to be admitted to a virtual ward without the need to visit an emergency department.

Dr Ashwani Peshen, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the ICB, said: ‘’Virtual wards are an important part of our system’s approach to managing the increasing number of patients presenting to our A&Es. In Kent and Medway, we are continuing to improve the way patients are admitted to a virtual ward, including through developing our clinical co-ordination centres. These allow clinicians, such as paramedics and GPs, to ensure patients are admitted to the right pathway at the right time as soon as possible.

“This independent evaluation demonstrates how virtual wards have an important part to play in the future of providing safe, effective care outside of the traditional hospital setting.’’

Frimley ICB oversees a capacity for over 200 virtual ward patients at any one time, and it has helped more than 12,000 patients stay out of hospital in the last two years. Frimley’s virtual wards have one of the highest utilisation rates in the South East, consistently outperforming the national target of 80% occupancy.

Dr Lalitha Iyer, Frimley ICB’s Chief Medical Officer, said: ”The evaluation highlights the positive impact virtual wards can have for our patients through avoiding hospital admissions and allowing them to be treated at home.

“This large-scale evaluation supports Frimley’s ambition to develop further our out-of-hospital offer, which uses remote monitoring to support patients to remain in their own homes. It’s also encouraging to see that virtual wards help reduce the demand in our hospitals.” 

The evaluation showed that patient experience of virtual ward services is generally positive, it states: “Patients articulate an appreciation for home-based care, being closer to family and more comfortable than in an acute hospital setting.”

A carer for a patient who was recently admitted into a virtual ward in North West Surrey said:

“We’ve got people looking out for us, but he’s got all the benefits of being in his own home for his physical and mental wellbeing. For me it’s been so reassuring to know that I can just pick up the telephone at any time and speak to somebody who knows us, really understands our situation and has been involved in our care. It really feels like you’re getting a tailored service from people you can trust. You don’t have to constantly keep explaining your history repeatedly to different people.

“I’d encourage people to be open minded about this way of being cared for.’’

PPL Senior Advisor and former Nuffield chief exec, Nigel Edwards, said: “PPL has been working on virtual wards since their inception, which is why we’re incredibly proud to be launching the South East Region virtual wards evaluation report with NHS England today. The report is a culmination of nine months of work to assess the impact of virtual wards on activity, expenditure, and quality in the South East of England. 

“It contains key lessons around what makes an effective virtual ward, including how to make these models work for the wider health and care system as well as for patients, enabling them to remain at home whilst receiving hospital care. 

“As part of our evaluation work, we looked at cases where the ability to assess patients in their own home enabled a much better understanding of their reality and the context of their condition to inform appropriate care. We believe this is the largest evaluation of its kind into virtual wards, giving us the most complete picture to date of the impact of them in the UK.”

Note to editors:

Dr Syed Hasan, South East Virtual Wards and Virtual Care Lead, Dr Ashwani Peshen, Deputy Chief Medical Officer for Kent and Medway ICB and Dr Lalitha Iyer, Frimley ICB’s Chief Medical Officer, are available or interviews. To arrange please contact: england.secomms@nhs.net

PPL is the UK’s leading social enterprise management consultancy, working to tackle some of the biggest health and social issues in the country and have been working to help manage Virtual Ward implementation since their inception and delivering sector-leading evaluations to assess the impact of Virtual Wards on activity, expenditure, and quality. Find out more at www.ppl.org.uk