The NHS has delivered on its ambition to roll out 10,000 virtual ward beds by the end of September, new figures show. More than 240,000 patients have now been treated on virtual wards, with research showing people who are treated at home recover at the same rate or faster than those treated in hospital.
England’s top doctor has praised the work of local NHS teams in introducing 10,421 virtual ward beds for patients who can get expert treatment for illnesses such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart failure or frailty conditions at home.
The ambition was delivered despite considerable pressure on urgent and emergency care – September was the busiest month for ambulance services so far this year with 827,690 calls to 999 and a record September for the most serious ambulance incidents, with 77,553 category one callouts.
Last month was also the busiest ever September for A&E staff with 2,165,741 attendances, up almost 8% on the same month last year (2,008,489 in September 2022) and 522,000 emergency admissions last month, up 7.1% on September last year.
Despite six days of industrial action in August, thanks to the significant efforts of staff, the NHS has treated 10% more patients (1,422,225) compared to the same month pre pandemic (1,292,163 in August 2019).
Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS national medical director, said: “Our world-leading virtual ward programme is a huge leap forward in the way the NHS treats patients enabling them to receive hospital-level care in their own home.
“The NHS is embracing the latest technology, with regular check-ins from local clinicians in daily ‘ward rounds’ while freeing up hospital beds for those that need them most – it is testament to the hard work and dedication of NHS staff across the country that we have delivered on our target and rolled out more than 10,000 virtual ward beds by the end of September."
