Virtual wards - what are they?
Virtual wards help patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the level of care, monitoring and treatment they need in the place they call home using straightforward medical and technological devices.
They prevent avoidable admissions into hospital and support early discharge out of hospital.
In a virtual ward, new technologies such as wearable devices, oxygen and blood pressure monitors along with apps, provide real-time information on people’s vital signs to a dedicated remote team of health and care professionals.
Personalised care plans identify what matters to the person to ensure that the support they receive is designed and coordinated around their desired outcomes. Support may involve face-to-face care from multi-disciplinary teams based in the community too when needed.
Sussex Health and Care
Sussex Health and Care is developing these virtual wards for people experiencing a deterioration in their respiratory, frailty or heart failure condition or those with a general medical acute illness. Virtual wards will provide additional capacity to our existing hospital beds enabling more patients to receive the care they need.
BBC news video about Hailsham resident, Michael’s experience with virtual wards.
ITV news video about Eastbourne resident, Frederick’s experience with virtual wards.
Research shows that being at home – where patients can see friends, family and pets – is much better for their physical health, mental wellbeing and overall recovery rate.
We understand that it if people stay too long in hospital, they can experience serious deconditioning with reduction in muscle strength that affects their mobility, which can be hard to recover from. This approach enables patients to have all the benefits of home, with the wraparound care of a dedicated clinical team reviewing them remotely, and face-to-face when needed.
We also know that the positive impact of this is that more patients maintain their independence at home and are less likely to need to be re-admitted to hospital.
