Virtual wards (also known as ‘hospital at home’) allow patients to get the care they need safely and conveniently at home, rather than being in hospital. The NHS is increasingly introducing virtual wards to support people at the place they call home, including care homes.
As of November 2024, the NHS in north central London (which includes Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington) has over 204 virtual ward beds for adults and children which support many different people, including those with age and heart related health issues.
Patients on a virtual ward are cared for by teams of clinicians and health specialists who carry out the same tests and treatments as they would in a hospital. Clinical teams check in on patients every day, while many virtual wards use technology like mobile apps and wearable devices to monitor patients’ health too.
Over the past ten years, over 20,000 people across North Central London have been safely cared for at home by Whittington Health NHS Trust’s virtual ward alone!
Watch a short video (below) featuring clinician Arul and Haringey virtual ward patient Eric to find out more about NCL’s virtual wards for adults:
Watch a video (below) from a North Mid Board meeting featuring Hospital at Home Matron Anne Biggs, Mum Lily and patient, Baby Sam, to find out more about NCL’s virtual wards for children:
Feedback from local patients
A patient from a Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust virtual ward in Camden said: “I felt fine and supported, I was assured that I could reach the virtual ward if I needed. In the virtual ward, the staff [and] the amount of care received was excellent”.
Another patient shared that “we as a family are grateful about the NHS as a whole, but more so about the VW (virtual ward) you guys are amazing.”
A family member shared that they “felt reassured that these services exist in the community and these services have the expertise to deal with my wife’s situation.”
Recent updates on virtual wards in north central London
- The UCLH Hospital@Home service is helping patients like 80-year-old Margaret Stone to continue their recovery in their own home under the care of their hospital team. Read more: ‘Virtual wards’ help patients to recover at home
- North Mid Hospital@Home celebrates first birthday! In May 2024, the North Middlesex Hospital’s Virtual Ward for babies and children turned one, and celebrated the occasion by seeing its 600th patient. Since opening, the North Mid Hospital@Home has expanded its catchment area and increased the number of eligible conditions for admittance to the ward. Visit their Virtual Ward webpages
- Congratulations to the Heart Failure Virtual Ward Team on being shortlisted for the NHS Parliamentary Awards 2024! The Heart Failure Virtual Ward Team at Barnet Hospital and the Royal Free Hospital was one of three NCL Integrated Care Service teams shortlisted Read more about this nomination
- North Mid children and young people’s ‘hospital at home’ – visit their virtual ward / hospital at home webpages and read a news story about their paediatric virtual ward
- Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust’s virtual ward in Camden – visit their website
- Whittington Health’s virtual ward – visit their virtual ward webpages and read about their new remote monitoring technology
More information
Find out more about virtual wards in England by going to the NHS England virtual wards webpages