Virtual wards to improve patient care and ease pressure on Chesterfield Royal Hospital and Ashgate Hospice

Hospital-level, individualised care in the comfort of home will be delivered to thousands of patients at five sites including DHU Healthcare, Derbyshire Community Health Services and Royal Derby Hospital. Nine virtual wards will cover frailty, respiratory, cardiology, diabetes, end of life/palliative care and diagnostics.

The move is part of measures to improve care by reducing the strain on busy hospitals. Joined Up Care Derbyshire Integrated Care System (JUCDICS) has partnered with Doccla, the leading virtual ward provider to the NHS, in the initiative.

Patients will have access to state of the art remote monitoring technology, allowing them to receive specialised care at home tailored to their unique needs. Central to this initiative is the ‘Doccla box’, which includes a pre-configured smartphone with a large font that easier to read. Additionally, wearable medical devices within the kit can monitor vital signs such as heart rate, respiration rate, body temperature, blood oxygen levels, and blood pressure. This data is then remotely monitored by healthcare professionals from dedicated clinical hubs. In cases where in-person care is necessary, healthcare providers can also make home visits.

The virtual ward expansion, which is likely to spread to other sites in the coming months, forms part of an investment in schemes to increase bed capacity across all hospitals and care homes within the Joined Up Care Derbyshire Integrated Care System. Doccla’s virtual ward technology will enable local NHS hospitals to discharge eligible patients who will then remain under the care of clinicians, but also reduce the need for patients with long-term or chronic health conditions to visit hospitals in the first place.

Dr Seema Kumari, who is leading the implementation of virtual wards across Derbyshire health and care system, said: “Virtual wards are a safe and efficient alternative to NHS bedded care which will allow patients who would otherwise be in hospital to receive the acute care and treatment in the place they call home, including care homes. It allows our healthcare staff to allocate more time for those in need of acute hospital care as it frees up hospital bed space. This is better for patients’ recovery and easier for their families and carers. The key to making virtual wards work, apart from multi-disciplinary team clinicians, is the monitoring equipment which allows clinicians to check on the progress of their patients while the patient is at home and the clinician is in the hospital. The appointment of Doccla as the provider of our monitoring equipment is a key step in expanding our virtual wards as we approach the busy winter period.”

The NHS has embarked on an ambitious programme to expand virtual wards across England, with Doccla’s clinical expertise poised to accelerate widespread adoption. The project with Joined Up Care Derbyshire will provide capacity to support more than 200 patients at any one time.