A team of Derby-based cardiology nurses will be enabling Derbyshire patients to stay at home and out of hospital for Christmas and New Year, using virtual ward technology to provide their hospital-level care remotely.
The team of cardiology nurses is employed by Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust and works closely with the ward-based cardiology team at the Royal Derby Hospital to help patients stay in the comfort of their own homes while receiving treatment for heart failure and other cardiology conditions.
The virtual ward team with team leader Mandie Santon (seated, front centre)
The virtual ward service operates 365 days a year and provides 30 virtual “beds” for patients with heart failure and other cardiology conditions in Derby and Derbyshire.
This service enables patients to get home from hospital more quickly after a stay on the ward. It also prevents some people needing hospital admission when they face an episode of ill-health or deterioration which would otherwise require a stay on the cardiology ward. Some patients are referred directly into the care of the virtual ward team by specialist community nurses.
The virtual ward is greatly valued by patients and never more so than during the festive season, when they can be at home with family and friends. Without the virtual ward these patients would need to be in a hospital bed on the ward.
The virtual ward cardiology team has just started taking referrals for severe valve problems in addition to its established service for patients with heart failure, serious arrhythmia and atrial fibrillation.
Mandie Santon, cardiology and heart failure nurse consultant with Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, who leads the virtual ward Derbyshire cardiology team, said:
“We can deliver care at an excellent standard for patients at home, as if they were in a hospital bed. Being at home enhances their overall wellbeing, as they are with family and friends in their own familiar surroundings and can carry on with whatever activities they feel able to do. We’ve had a couple of patients able to maintain some level of work while having virtual ward care at home.
“The benefits for most patients are numerous. It’s better for their mental health, there’s less risk of infection and if they need to be around at home for someone they have caring responsibilities for they don’t need to make special arrangements to cover those. But it is a choice and we’d never insist on virtual ward care if a patient didn’t want it. Most patients though are much happier to receive their care at home.”
The virtual ward service for heart patients in Derbyshire builds upon the former telemedicine service which Mandie’s team ran in previous years to monitor their heart failure patients remotely. Now, a typical virtual ward “kit” which patients need at home is very compact.
Mandie added: “We aren’t talking about big machines taking up lots of space.” The virtual ward kit includes weight scales, a blood pressure monitor, an oxygen level monitor and a Kardia device to detect abnormal heart rhythm.
In a typical month the cardiology virtual ward saves more than 1,000 hospital bed days, meaning hospital beds are freed up for other patients while patients on virtual ward care receive the treatment they need at home.
The length of time each patient stays on the virtual ward varies but is usually between 14 and 22 days depending on the complexity of their condition. The number of referrals has doubled since mid-2023, with up to 60 referrals each month now across southern Derbyshire.
Patient Brian Trowbridge, from Allestree in Derby, age 77, was getting ready to leave hospital and go home as a virtual ward patient on 23 December. He said: “I've been on the virtual ward before and extremely happy with the care I received. Having treatment at home is better as I can sleep in my own bed and not feel upset by the buzzers and noise on the ward. This time it also means that I can be treated at home and spend Christmas with my family.”
Brian is pictured with Marta McCalpin, trainee cardiology advanced clinical practitioner with Derbyshire Community Health Services NHS Foundation Trust, giving instruction in some of the monitoring equipment Brian will be using at home for his virtual ward care.
'Virtual wards' is a national programme combining local partnership working, good clinical practice, and digital investment to create care models that help healthcare professionals treat patients closer to their community or in their homes. Virtual wards help to:
- Avoid patients attending A&E/ED (Emergency Department) from being admitted into hospital if they don't need to be.
- Discharge patients from hospital sooner by putting in place monitoring and community care follow-up where necessary.
- Prevent hospital admission of clinically suitable patients at urgent and emergency care departments that can receive their care at home.
The 30 virtual ward beds for cardiology patients is part of a growing use of the virtual ward concept. There are also currently 20 general medicine virtual ward 'beds' in East Staffordshire and 10 virtual ward beds for respiratory conditions in Derby/Derbyshire. You can read more about these here.