'One part of the solution' Care at home on virtual NHS wards given cautious welcome

Harold Chugg spent much of early 2023 in hospital because of worsening heart failure. In June, the 75-year-old received several blood transfusions, which led to fluid accumulating in his lungs and tissues.

- Linda Geddes

Ordinarily, he would have remained in hospital for further days or weeks while the medical team got his fluid retention under control. But Harold was offered an alternative: admission to a virtual ward where he would be closely monitored in his own home.

Armed with a computer tablet, a Bluetooth-enabled blood pressure cuff and weighing scales, Harold returned to his farm near Chulmleigh in north Devon and each day logged his own symptoms and measurements, which were reviewed by a specialist nurse in another part of the county.

"It allowed them to release my bed for another patient who needed it more than I did, and avoided me doing a lot of travelling for voluntary monitoring," Chugg said.

He was discharged six weeks later and his condition has remained relatively stable ever since.

Welcome to what NHS England believes could become a mainstay of treatment for brief but severe episodes of illness. Virtual wards provide hospital-level care at home through the use of apps, wearables and daily "virtual ward rounds" by medical staff, who review patient data and follow up with phone calls or home visits where necessary.

More than 10,000 such beds are already available across England and at least a further 15,000 are planned. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are also funding their expansion. But while proponents claim patients in virtual wards recover at the same rate or faster than those treated in hospital, and that the wards' provision can cut waiting lists and costs, some worry that their rapid expansion could place additional strain on patients and caregivers while distracting from the need to invest in emergency care.