Maz Fosh, CEO of Lincolnshire Community Health Services (LCHS) NHS Trust, has highlighted how virtual wards are working well in Lincolnshire, and how they are keen to explore the approach for other conditions.
Currently LCHS have virtual wards for heart failure, frailty, respiratory, children’s complex neurology and same-day emergency care.
Within the first ten months, 120 patients had been admitted to the heart failure virtual ward with patients said to discuss how they felt “safer in the knowledge they will be monitored following discharge from hospital” and how it is “reassuring knowing that someone is looking at your numbers”.
Lincolnshire Community’s virtual ward for heart failure helps bring together staff from primary care, community services and hospitals in the area. It launched in January 2022 to provide another option for patients if they want to receive care at home.
Maz noted how virtual wards have helped to “relieve pressure on hospitals and urgent care services, by looking after people remotely and they promote working across organisations – resulting in care being more joined up whether they’re seen by community services, hospital staff or their GP.”
This week, HTN shared insight from Bryn Sage, CEO of Inhealthcare on how remote monitoring is key for NHS recovery and transformation. We also interviewed Nick Weston and Lisa Hope from Intelligent Lilli to explore the tech behind remote monitoring.
In Lincolnshire, HTN recently covered the introduction of digital kiosks across community hubs to provide a digital resource to help individuals manage their health and wellbeing, and support mental health transformation in the community.
