The Virtual Wards Frailty Home Treatment Service is a pioneering new service from Kent Community Health Foundation Trust that is successfully reducing acute admissions, shortening hospital stays and ensuring people can be treated in their homes. A multidisciplinary team consisting of GP’s, nurses, therapists, and advanced clinical practitioners can diagnose and treat at the patients home, predicting and meeting needs before hospital care is required. The team can run tests and make a diagnosis, escalating to hospital care if it’s what is right for the patient.

Hospital stays typically last two weeks, and in many cases are entirely unnecessary for the patients needs. Virtual Wards allow patients to receive the full expertise of clinicians with testing and diagnosis completed immediately, in the patients home, without weeks away in a hospital bed.

This initiative is a part of the broader move by the NHS towards a holistic, community based, care approach that reduces the strain on acute hospital care, reduces the burden on staff, and improves overall health outcomes for patients.