The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the use of technology platforms with three elements to support virtual wards for patients with acute respiratory infection (ARI).
It has also produced draft guidance on the use of the technologies, on which it has begun a consultation, following a review by its medical technology advisories committee.
The three elements of the virtual ward technologies – which make it possible for clinicians to monitor patients in their homes – are a patient facing app or website, associated wearable medical devices and a digital platform for healthcare professionals.
These can make it possible to monitor a patient’s temperature, heart rate, oxygen satuarion, blood pressure and respiratory rate, and some platforms include patient questionnaires.
NICE said they could be used more widely to enable ARI patients to stay in their homes or be discharged from hospital earlier.
The draft guidance lists a number of suppliers and says that key aspects of a virtual ward are a user centred design, multidisciplinary team working, interoperability with electronic patient records, regulatory approval for the devices and risk stratified alerts.
It also says that admittance to a virtual ward should involve shared decision making with patients and their carers.
Relieving pressure
Mark Chapman, interim director of medical technology and digital evaluation at NICE, said: “The NHS is under pressure and giving people with an acute respiratory infection the chance to be monitored from the safety of their own home or care home can help manage capacity in hospitals.
“Evidence shows virtual wards are safe and can be an option for those who are comfortable using technology to have their condition monitored away from a hospital ward.
“Using these innovative new technology platforms within a carefully managed NHS environment will enable us to generate the evidence to understand the benefits to patients and the wider health system of using virtual wards.”
NICE said that evidence presented to the committee showed there were similar outcomes for patients treated in virtual wards and hospitals.
It added that analysis by its external assessment groups estimated that the technologies saved around £872 per person, but there is still some uncertainty in the NHS about savings and further evidence is needed to establish the benefits in practice.
The consultation is set to run until 1 September.
