Understanding Patient and Carer Experience in the Virtual Ward

Understanding Patient and Carer Experience in the Virtual Ward

Virtual Wards (VW) allow patients of all ages to safely and conveniently receive acute care at home, including care homes. There is increasing evidence that when all core components are delivered effectively for appropriate patients, these services provide a better patient experience and improve clinical outcomes. They can also help narrow the gap between demand and capacity for hospital beds by preventing attendance and admissions, moving acute care into the community, or reducing the length of stay through early discharge.

Virtual Wards are now available in every Integrated Care System (ICS), although the models and pathways delivered vary. Feedback indicates that clinicians nationwide are eager to understand where the expansion of these services has been most successful in order to develop best practice models.In the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare Trust Foundation Trust, Virtual Wards have been established to manage acute care needs for patients in their homes. The key document, the 'Virtual Ward Operational Framework’ (NHSE, 2024), identifies patient and carer feedback as a crucial indicator to be measured in VW care. Implementing survey and feedback mechanisms for patients and carers is essential for evaluating this new method of care delivery.

Care Opinion is now being implemented in HIOW Healthcare across all care services, and it has seen significant success with a growing number of patient stories. Our Virtual Wards have adopted Care Opinion to gather patient and carer feedback effectively. The flexibility in obtaining feedback from both patients and carers has been invaluable. Teams have developed diverse methods for collecting stories that best suit the demographics they serve. This adaptability has proven to be beneficial.

In addition to receiving feedback through the Care Opinion platform, teams are committed to making changes based on the insights from patient and carer stories. Most of the changes implemented are related to improving communication, allowing the teams to learn from experiences and commit to improvements. Receiving these stories boosts team morale and provides an opportunity to directly inform patients and carers about the changes made in response to their feedback. I strongly encourage clinicians providing care in the Virtual Ward to utilize Care Opinion.