One million patients to benefit from virtual ward service
Spirit Health and NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland partnership will deliver on the home-first strategy, improving care outcomes and long-term condition management
NHS Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland (LLR) has appointed Spirit Health as its technology partner to support the introduction of virtual wards across 16 health categories and in an area supporting more than one million patients.
The service will increase hospital bed capacity and enable more patients to receive the timely treatment they need.
The virtual ward involves a team of professionals working to manage a group of patients in the community, enabling patients to get the care they need at home, safely and conveniently, rather than being in hospital.
Using a combination of remote monitoring by healthcare professionals and home visits, virtual wards can help prevent hospital admissions or allow for an earlier supported discharge.
The remote monitoring platform, CliniTouch Vie, supports health specialties including heart failure, frailty, and COVID-19 and will be provided by a collaboration of local organisations including University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust, and LOROS.
Patients will benefit from quick, simple, and continuous access to healthcare professionals – helping more people to feel better connected and cared for, all from the comfort of their own homes
In addition to the virtual wards, LLR will also be working with Spirit Health to implement digitised pathways across primary, secondary, and community care to improve long-term condition management, for example digitised asthma services, enabling remote monitoring at home.
Dr Caroline Trevithick, chief nursing officer and deputy chief executive at LLR, said: “Having the right technology partner is crucial in a successful virtual ward to keep everything running smoothly and ensure patients, relatives, and health professionals feel supported and confident at all times.
“Spirit Health has been working with local NHS organisations during the pandemic on the pilot virtual ward schemes and we are delighted to be continuing our journey with them as we expand the virtual ward programme in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.”
Dr Noel O’Kelly, clinical director from Spirit Health, added: “Spirit Health is delighted to be partnering with the LLR integrated care system following the success of our pilot virtual ward project launched during the pandemic.
“Under this new partnership, we will work with the trust to deliver enhanced patient experiences and outcomes across nine health pathways using our remote patient monitoring technology.
“Patients will benefit from quick, simple, and continuous access to healthcare professionals – helping more people to feel better connected and cared for, all from the comfort of their own homes.”