The PSC Transformation team bring you the 5 key factors for achieving a successful virtual ward rollout, based on their research and learnings from past virtual ward implementations.
The response to the Covid-19 pandemic provided a clear demonstration of the value of virtual wards across the NHS. Virtual wards are a means of giving patients the care they need at home, equivalent to that which they would receive in hospital but away from the hospital environment.
Since then, the Government, and NHSE in turn, have made the rollout and expansion of virtual wards a top priority. The Department of Health and Social Care announced on 30 January 2023 the ambition to support 50,000 people a month through the virtual wards. This represents a mammoth 500% increase in monthly capacity across the board. As of March 2023, NHS virtual wards have succeeded in delivering treatment to 100,000 people in the last year through 340 virtual ward programmes across England, supporting 16,000 patients in January alone.
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