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Award-winning virtual hospital initiative expands into surgery

Posted: 5 December 2023

Picture of Mr Vanash Patel (consultant colorectal surgeon and colorectal and robotic service lead), Deirdre McCarthy (enhanced recovery nurse) and Mr Najib Daulatzai (consultant colorectal surgeon).
Pictured above, left to right: Mr Vanash Patel (consultant colorectal surgeon and colorectal and robotic service lead), Deirdre McCarthy (enhanced recovery nurse) and Mr Najib Daulatzai (consultant colorectal surgeon).

An award-winning virtual hospital programme at Watford General Hospital is expanding its service to treat even more patients from the comfort of their own home.

Patients who have received colorectal surgery will now benefit from receiving hospital level care via a virtual ward. It is expected around 30 patients a year will benefit from this model of care.

Mr Vanash Patel, consultant colorectal surgeon and colorectal and robotic service lead, said: “Consultant colorectal surgeon Mr Najib Daulatzai and enhanced recovery nurse Deirdre McCarthy have been working incredibly hard with our inspiring and dedicated virtual hospital team to implement this new pathway.

“It will help us to treat our post-operative colorectal cancer patients safely at home, including those who have been treated via robotically assisted surgery. This has been achieved thanks to phenomenal teamwork between our clinicians and non-clinicians from the trust and community.”

West Herts Teaching Hospital NHS Trust’s (WHTH) virtual wards provide a safe alternative to keeping patients in hospital and saves countless inpatient bed days.

Virtual wards work by using an app that provides clinical teams with health data from the patient recovering at home. The results are closely monitored by clinicians in a virtual hub located at the hospital and patients are supported by community nurses on the ground.

WHTH is also a part of the South and West Hertfordshire Health and Care Partnership (HCP) which is one of three partnerships across the Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care System (ICS). They work together for the health and wellbeing of communities in south and west Hertfordshire, such as though the planning, roll-out and delivery of the virtual hospital.

Treating patients in this way brings many benefits that enhance patient experience. It reduces length of stay in hospital and patients can recover in a familiar and more comfortable environment.

Recuperating at home also means that the clinical teams can personalise each patient’s care. Clinicians can also treat patients while communicating with their GP to provide more integrated care in the community.

NHS England recently produced a survey for the public asking about their opinions on virtual wards. Over 50% of respondents said they would prefer to be discharged earlier from hospital and receive their ongoing care through a virtual ward at home.

Respondents also said having family and social support more readily available is a big draw to being treated at home, as well as being able to follow their own routines, dietary preferences and their own activities.

Working with its partners at Central London Community Healthcare NHS Trust (CLCH), WHTH established the UK's first virtual hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since its formation, the programme has gone from strength to strength and now cares for patients with heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and acute respiratory infections as well as frailty patients.

Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s chief executive, visited the virtual hospital at Watford General Hospital in November 2023 to see how the trust is treating patients through virtual wards. She called West Herts and CLCH “pioneers of the virtual hospital model”.

Ends

  1. To see the results of the NHS England virtual wards survey, please click here.
  2. For media enquiries, please contact the communications team on: 01923 436280 or email: westherts.communications@nhs.net. For out of hours media enquiries please call the Watford General Hospital switchboard on 01923 244366 and ask for the on call communications manager.
  3. West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves people from across Hertfordshire, north London and further afield. It operates from three hospitals; Watford General, St Albans City and Hemel Hempstead. The trust has a catchment area of over 500,000 people and is one of the largest employers locally, with around 5,000 staff and volunteers.
  4. For more information about our hospitals, visit www.westhertshospitals.nhs.uk. You can also join our followers on Twitter (twitter.com/westhertsNHS) and find us on Facebook (facebook.com/westhertsNHS).