Could virtual wards be the answer to NHS waiting lists?
As the NHS continues to tackle understaffing and over-demand on its hospital capacity, the potential for doctors to support certain patients at home via a ‘virtual wards’ service has become a hot topic in the media and beyond. The Government’s commitment to making an initial £200m available to virtual wards in 2022-23 and a further £250m in 2023-24 has prompted discussion about the potential benefits and pitfalls of the service, raising questions about how virtual wards are defined and how they actually work in practice.
Our client, life sciences digital services provider, Bionical Solutions, is already delivering virtual ward services to NHS trusts in partnership with remote monitoring companies, and Phil Matton, Bionical’s Vice President for Strategy and Business Transformation, authored an article for leading industry publication, pharmaphorum. Published on the 19 May, his piece discusses how the infrastructure developed for COVID is being expanded to enable the virtual management of conditions such as hypertension, respiratory disease, atrial fibrillation and diabetes, while providers who can deliver staff with specialist skills in remote monitoring will be in high demand.
Read more about how virtual wards will benefit individuals while saving millions of pounds by reducing use of NHS services, in pharmaphorum, here.
