West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals has shared key findings from an in-depth evaluation of its Hospital at Home (HAH) service, including an 80 percent reduction in costs compared with hospital care, improved outcomes, and high rates of patient satisfaction.
The evaluation, published in Frontiers in Digital Health, analysed patients admitted to the HAH service between April 2023 and April 2024, across pathways including heart function, airway disease, and acute respiratory infection. Outcomes measured looked at length of stay, total bed-day costs, 30-day readmission rates, 90-day mortality, and patient experience.
Findings demonstrated a net saving of £1.33 million over a 12-month period, reducing hospital admissions by close to three days on average, and offering a reported 80 percent reduction in costs compared with hospital admission. Caring for patients in the virtual hospital is recorded as costing an average of £118.49 per bed day, compared with inpatient care costs of £569, the trust shares. Savings related to reduced length of stay equated to £486 per early supported discharge, and £3,652 per admission avoidance patient, it adds.
The study also showed that patients responded positively to the HAH service, with 95.8 percent reporting they preferred virtual hospital care, and 98.3 percent stating they felt safe under virtual hospital care.
Niall Keenan, medicine divisional director, noted how the evaluation underscored the “enormous value, impact and benefit” of the HAH approach, adding: “Not only does it cut admission times and save millions of pounds which can be spent on supporting other vital services, but most importantly it is also a huge hit with patients. They prefer it to hospitals and feel safe and well looked after being cared for from home.”
Citation: Shaw M, Almogheer B, Auger D, Barlow A, Bhaskaran B, Buxton M, Cerulli M, Giri Ghimire K, Hiller E, Jayne Z, Kelly M, Knight M, Zinkin E and Keenan NG (2026) Real-world outcomes from 2,905 episodes of hospital at home care: a propensity-matched cohort study. Front. Digit. Health 8:1716319. doi: 10.3389/fdgth.2026.1716319
Wider trend: Virtual care
Ireland’s Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, has shared the impact of virtual care initiatives, highlighting “significant progress” around patient outcomes and relieving pressure on hospital capacity. Two pilot acute virtual wards at St. Vincent’s University Hospital and University Hospital Limerick have accrued 1,500 admissions, reportedly equating to 13,800 virtual bed days. A virtual ward at Letterkenny has produced similar “remarkable” results, according to the Minister, producing an 18 percent reduction in acute admissions to the hospital in 2025. Along with virtual care for acute patients, the Minister notes that virtual wards have also been established for community, with plans to expand all types of virtual ward models nationwide.
Mid Yorkshire Teaching NHS Trust has shared statistics on its Hospital at Home – Virtual Ward programme, highlighting a saving of 1,422 hospital admissions since the service began, with 318 of these in 2025/26. Overall, the virtual ward has saved 987 bed days in Q1 – Q2 of 2025/26. In Q1 – Q2 of 2025/26, 40 percent of admissions were step-up admissions, up from 33 percent in 2024/25. The average length of stay for patients on the G41 (elderly acute) ward during Q1-Q2 2025/26 was 2.8 days, the trust states. “Applying this to the step-up cohort, it is estimated that the service has saved 890 bed days via admissions avoidance YTD.”
Publishing their five-year strategic commissioning plan in line with the NHS England medium-term planning requirements, Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICB has shared ambitions for shared care records, AI, remote monitoring, data, digital diagnostics, and more. For long-term condition care, the focus will be on the expanded use of remote monitoring, virtual consultations, and data-driven insights, including the use of remote clinical tools like digital blood pressure monitoring to help patients self-manage at home. Across all pathways, digital solutions will support earlier intervention, improve care continuity, and reduce duplication, including digital triage and access to online information.
