The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust has added a virtual tour of its facilities to its website, with the aim of supporting individuals with additional needs before they arrive at the hospital.
The interactive tool uses 360° navigation, showing outpatient departments and waiting areas, as well as endoscopy and x-ray suites, allowing patients to move around and explore the hospital environment in advance. The project aims to ease anxiety and to address recent patient feedback on improving navigation around the hospital for those with additional needs.
Funded by NHS Cheshire and Merseyside, the virtual tour was developed by Bartex Design in partnership with the hospital’s Safeguarding and Complex Care Team. It forms part of the trust’s Additional Needs Strategy, which looks at ways to make healthcare “more inclusive for autistic individuals, as well as those living with dementia, learning disabilities, mental health conditions, and physical disabilities”.
Explaining more about why the trust chose to implement this tool, Jill Cooper, associate director of nursing (safeguarding and complex care) at the Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We are deeply committed to enhancing patient experience. Tools like this show that we’re not standing still – we’re listening, learning, and making meaningful changes that truly benefit our patients and their families.”
The digital tour is available for free and for everyone on the trust’s website in hopes that it will “benefit other patients and families by helping them feel more informed, reassured, and confident about visiting the hospital”.
Supporting patients with virtual tech: the wider trend
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has introduced a collection of virtual access guides for the Horton General Hospital in Banbury and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre to make it easier to navigate both hospitals. The online guides offer details on key access routes and facilities throughout the two hospitals, covering 39 wards and departments at Horton General and 29 at Nuffield. The resources were developed with help from the information platform, AccessAble and Oxford Hospitals Charity, with the aim to “make visits easier and more reassuring for patients, visitors and staff with a wide range of accessibility needs”.
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde has shared plans to develop its virtual hospital, with the aim of having 1000 virtual beds and remote monitoring in place by July 2026. An investment of £20 million has been made to support the delivery of the NHS Renewal Urgent and Unscheduled Care and Improving Flow Commission, with a further £2.56 million for Hospital @ Home, GGC revealed. Key focuses for improved patient flow include a flow navigation centre offering direct assessment and navigation to services such as eTriage.
In June, Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust introduced a collection of virtual access guides through the information platform, AccessAble, providing patients with support on routes and facilities within Bradford Royal Infirmary. Using 360-degree virtual imagery, the system allows users to “explore hospital departments and wards in advance” through an interactive interface, with the aim to support patients, visitors and staff who have “a wide range of access needs”.
