Virtual wards (also known as hospital at home) allow patients to get the care they need at home safely and conveniently, rather than being in hospital.
The NHS is increasingly introducing virtual wards to support people at the place they call home, including care homes.
This framework supports consistency across the NHS and the relevant goals in line with the Year 2 urgent and emergency care (UEC) recovery plan and the 2024/25 priorities and operational planning guidance: maintaining virtual ward capacity and optimising occupancy so it is consistently above 80%.
The NHS is set to increase virtual ward use as new analysis shows that 9,000 hospital admissions have been avoided in the South East in the past year thanks to the world-leading initiative. NHS hospitals are being encouraged to refer more patients directly to virtual wards where they can receive treatment from the comfort of […]
