University Hospitals of Leicester has partnered with Independent Provider Pioneer Wound Healing and Lymphedema Centres to utilise virtual wards to prevent and treat pressure ulcers.
It means hospital teams can upload images for assessment by Pioneer Health Consultants who can remotely access them and create a personalised prevention and treatment plan.
The initiative forms part of the trust’s wider commitment to Harm Free Care, from Board to Ward, aiming to improve patient outcomes and quality of life, using virtual wards to enable clinicians to monitor and treat patients remotely. Sue Burton, deputy chief nurse at University Hospitals Leicester, “has been at the forefront in developing this innovative solution”, which supports patients, prevents harm in hospital, and expedites healing for pressure ulcers, increasing tissue viability capacity.
Becky Brennan, UHL’s matron for oncology, said: “Pioneer have been really responsive to referrals that have been made. Patients are reviewed within 24 hours and a plan of care and advice is documented on Nervecentre (EPR) for the ward nursing team to implement. Before the ward became a Pioneer ward, there was an increase of pressure damage, causing harm to our already vulnerable patients. Being a Pioneer ward has had a positive impact and I do believe it has reduced our amount of pressure damage.”
In other news on the use of tech and digital at UHL, the trust deployed Nervecentre’s order comms solution across its three hospitals earlier this year. Forming part of the trust’s progressive electronic patient record roll-out, the solution is now live supporting clinical workflow and processes, as part of the Nervecentre EPR.
On the NHS-wide use of virtual wards, NHS England has published the latest batch of information on virtual ward services in each integrated care board in England and at national level, with the data indicating that three ICBs are currently meeting the target for services to include 40-50 virtual ward beds per 100,000 adults by the end of this year.
