Patient benefits from ‘virtual ward’ technology

Pictured above from left to right: Joseph Trajano – Patient Navigator, Respiratory Consultant Dr Marta Babores, Respiratory Consultant Dr Thapas Nagarajan, Jane Watson, Team Leader for Virtual wards and Urgent Crisis Response and  Rachel Higham – Clinical Respiratory Specialist Practitioner/Team Leader.

Patients at Macclesfield Hospital could avoid hospital admission thanks to new hospital-at-home monitoring technology.

One of the first patients to use the scheme was a Bollington man (Edward), who attended A&E in March 2023 with increasing shortness of breath. He had been under the care of his GP for the past three months and was being treated for unresolved chest infections.

Until recently, patients like Edward, who present with similar respiratory symptoms, would usually be admitted to hospital to enable timely investigations. However, thanks to new virtual ward technology which is being rolled out across Cheshire & Merseyside, patients who are deemed suitable may now be monitored in the comfort of their own home instead.

After an initial assessment, the A&E team and the virtual ward consultant felt that Edward would benefit from being monitored at home rather than being admitted to hospital. They demonstrated how the equipment and monitoring service works then he was discharged the very same day.

Edward said, “Being on the virtual ward has enabled me to be in comfortable surroundings rather than being in hospital. For someone who is unwell but not drastically so, this helped me to get on with everyday things and have my family right by my side.

“The three daily observations have been well monitored and enabled the team to track my progress; every time I have had a below-par reading they have called me and checked on my condition, as well as the nurse visiting on the first day to check on me and review my use of the monitoring equipment. Overall the service has worked very well for me.”

Over the next few days, even though Edward remained symptomatic, he was able to remain at home with regular contact with the virtual ward team and a daily consultant review. After seven days his symptoms were not significantly improving, so the virtual ward consultant arranged for a CT scan, which he was able to access on the same day.

Dr Marta Babores, Virtual Ward Consultant at East Cheshire NHS Trust said, “Without the virtual ward service it is likely that Edward would have required hospital admission for three to four days to enable timely investigations. It is of great benefit to our patients if they can recover at home rather than being admitted to hospital so we look forward to further implementing this new technology for patients like Edward.”