The NHS Confederation has warned that the target for the roll out of virtual wards in England will not be met without an increase in the clinical staff needed to run them.
It has published an analysis of the outlook in response to NHS England’s target for integrated care systems to increase the capacity of virtual wards to 40-50 ‘beds’ per 100,000 population, equivalent to up to 24,000 in all, by the end of next year. This includes implementing the model for at least two patient pathways - for acute respiratory infection and frailty.
The analysis said there has to be a recognition of the severe workforce and skills shortage in the NHS, which holds back the ability to develop systems such as virtual wards.
Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, said: “It is very concerning to note that vital new models of innovative care like virtual wards, which could go a long way to help in shoring up the health service’s defences and head off another winter crisis this year, are being jeopardised because of a lack of staff to run them.
“There is now a real and urgent need to address staffing in the NHS and we know that this is having a significant impact on all aspects of care.
“Support from NHS England for virtual wards has been very welcome and there is a need to get them rolled out far and wide to help address winter demand more effectively.
“However, it is also important that those setting them up are allowed more flexibility so that their use is not limited solely to frail patients or those with respiratory illnesses.”
Supporting measures
The analysis lays out a series of measures to support the development of virtual wards, including that their staffing has to be properly planned and regularly reviewed, and should involve placements for students.
NHS England should be less prescriptive about specific virtual ward pathways than its current emphasis on acute respiratory infection and frailty, and local providers should ensure that clinicians and patients are involved from the start of development.
In addition, ICS leaders should promote the use of virtual ward champions to spread awareness of their value, and be ready to invest in the model long term.
The document also identifies a need for NHS England to set out a large scale digital project that makes it easier for integrated care systems to access local data to help them make informed decisions. It says the data on local population needs that would support the development of virtual wards can currently be difficult to obtain.
It adds, however, that over the past 12 months the NHS has managed to treat more than 100,000 patients through the virtual ward model, with more than 340 programmes now running and 7,500 virtual beds available across England.
The NHS Confederation warning has come as the National Centre for Clinical Excellence has outlined the system requirements for the success of virtual wards. These include maintaining safe staffing and caseloads and only using the solution for patients who would otherwise be admitted to an NHS acute hospital or to facilitate their early discharge.
