People have mixed views on the prospect of receiving healthcare through virtual wards, according to research published by the Health Foundation.
The health research and innovation charity has published the results of a survey carried out by Censuswide in March and involving 7,100 members of the public and 1,251 NHS staff. It shows support for the wards, which use remote technology to monitor patients in their homes, is finely balanced.
Asked if they support the idea of virtual wards, 45% of the public were very or quite supportive, with 23% saying ‘not very supportive’ and 32% being against the idea.
By contrast, the figures for NHS staff were 63%, 22% and 14% respectively.
Public support is generally higher among better off social groups, with 53% in the AB categories in favour, compared with 43% among C1s and C2s and 36% among Ds and Es.
Technology awareness
It is also influenced by how much people know about the use of technology in the NHS, with 70% of those claiming a ‘great deal’ of knowledge being supportive against just 24% who say they know nothing at all.
The proportion saying they would not want to be treated through a virtual ward declines with age, ranging from 36% for 16-24 year-olds down to 21% for the over 65s.
Other findings indicate that nearly three in four of the public would be happy to be treated through a virtual ward in the right circumstances, with 29% providing a clear ‘yes’ and 42% saying ‘it depends’.
Support is also influenced by the nature of the patient’s illness or condition (77% would be happy), whether they could get help quickly if needed (43%), if they could be sure the quality of care was just as good (28%) and how often they would be in contact with NHS staff (23%).
Staff indicated that they believe the most important factors for making sure virtual wards work well are that people can get to hospital quickly if their condition changes (40%), they can still talk to a health professional if needing help (38%), they have a choice over being in a virtual ward or hospital (31%) and feel confident using technology at home (30%).
Further to go
The report concludes: “Our findings suggest that there is an existing base of support for virtual wards among the public on which to build as this model of care is developed and spread, but also that there is further to go to secure buy-in across the population as a whole.
“The finding that those who know more about how the NHS is using technology are more supportive of the model suggests that awareness raising could play an important role in building support.”
It says there could be a need to develop an alternative choice of words and provide more supporting information to patients.
“But steps to build awareness and offer reassurance are only one part of what is needed,” it adds. “It will also be critical to continue to monitor and evaluate virtual wards as they are rolled out, ensuring they deliver high quality and safe care in practice.
“For example, the Health Foundation’s Improvement Analytics Unit will be working closely with NHS England and a number of frailty virtual wards to explore how frailty virtual wards are operating, and assess equity, safety and effectiveness.”
NHS England has claimed significant progress in the roll out of virtual wards as a key element of its capacity building, but there has been a warning from the NHS Confederation that there is a need for more clinical staff in place to ensure they run effectively.
