How the rapid growth of virtual wards is helping the NHS

There is neverNHSNHS going to be one answer to the problems of the National Health Service (). But by preventing admissions to hospital in the first place, or enabling an earlier discharge date, virtual hospital wards promise to offer a practical solution to shortages of real beds.Virtual wards is a fancy term to describe low-risk patients who are monitored at home. Patients are given electronic doodads—blood-pressure cuffs, thermometers, oximeters—so that hospital staff can collect data about their health in real time. They are not new but their roll-out accelerated during the pandemic. Given the approach of both winter and an election, the pace is not letting up. The in England reached 10,000 virtual beds this autumn—actual beds total about 140,000—and wants to have 24,000 of them by the end of next year. During one period this summer, 14 beds were being added daily, says Ben Horner of Boston Consulting Group.