Watford General Hospital’s “game-changing” innovation for people to be looked after at home was highlighted in parliament by the health secretary.
After a tour of the hospital on January 6 Watford MP Dean Russell and Secretary of State for Health Steve Barclay spoke on West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust’s Virtual Hospital in the House of Commons.
The MP said Watford is “proud” to host the UK’s first virtual hospital, set up at Watford General in 2020 to help with the surge in Covid patients, and Mr Russell asked how the virtual wards could be rolled out nationally to support the current increase in demand.
In response, Mr Barclay said: “I think he highlights an extremely important area of innovation, which speaks to the point about how that is then adopted at scale.
“At Watford they tell me how that was saving the equivalent of another ward of the hospital by enabling people to be discharged to recover in their homes.
“Patient satisfaction was extremely high, over 90%.”
The technology feeds health data from the patient at home to a virtual hospital hub where results are closely monitored by clinicians.
The trust says more than 5,000 Covid patients have been treated via the virtual hospital saving thousands of ‘bed days’.
Consultant cardiologist and trust associate medical director Dr Niall Keenan was invited to Downing Street for a summit led by Rishi Sunak, on January 7, to explain how the model has improved care and freed up beds.
He said: “I was delighted to be invited to the Downing Street NHS Recovery Forum. The prime minister was very interested in the potential of our virtual hospital data on a national scale.
“He recognised this would be game-changing for the NHS in the way patients are cared for and how beds are used.
"We are proud to be leading the way and sharing our success with others.”
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During his visit to Watford the secretary of state also discussed the hospital’s approaches to addressing the current pressures in the local health system and the trust’s plans for new and better buildings.
In May, the West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospital NHS Trust agreed its preferred option was to build a new, large block on land next to the existing hospital in Vicarage Road.
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