Virtual Wards
In the South East region there are over 1600 virtual wards providing hospital level care and remote monitoring in people’s own homes. They allow patients either to receive care at home or continue treatment at home after being in hospital.
Virtual wards have teams of healthcare professionals, who can provide high quality care either face to face in a patient’s own home or remotely, usually supported with cutting-edge monitoring devices, smartphones, and other technology. They are evolving to manage a wider range of medical conditions that would otherwise be treated in hospital, particularly for frail patients and those with acute respiratory infections.
Tens of thousands of people across England are benefitting from being treated at home on a virtual ward, with emerging evidence to show that patients have better outcomes when treated at home, rather than being treated in hospital.