The Frail

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By Hugh PymHealth editor

Plans to open more so-called virtual wards for patients in England are to be announced by the government.

The measures will enable some, particularly The Frail elderly, to be monitored At Home by doctors using video and other technology.

There will also be more community teams to visit people in their homes.

It Comes amid on the health service and a dramatic deterioration in waiting times for urgent care.

In December, the average ambulance response time for emergencies like heart attacks - Five times longer than The Target - while over a third of patients waited More Than four Hours to be seen at A& E.

On Monday, the government and Nhs England will publish the Urgent and Emergency Care Plan, outlining steps intended to bring waiting times back down.

The aim of virtual wards is to support mostly elderly patients, as well as those with respiratory conditions, in their own homes rather than hospitals.

Doctors and other health staff review their cases each day and patients using wearable devices can report daily readings and results so they can be remotely monitored.

Patients can receive home visits where necessary, and the technology can also be used to reduce The Risk of falls.

There will be a Target of up to 50,000 people being supported in this way each month, up from around 10,000 at The End of Last Year .

There will also be more community response teams aiming to get to vulnerable patients within two Hours - officials say up to 20% of hospital admissions are avoidable with The Right care in place.

Existing examples already in place include a scheme in Hull which brings together fire, ambulance and community services. They are sent to elderly people who have had a fall and need non-urgent support.

A London Ambulance pilot scheme also dispatches paramedics and nurses to frail patients in their homes.

Health and Social Care Secretary Steve Barclay said: " By expanding the care provided in the community, The Most vulnerable, frail and elderly patients can be better supported to continue living independently or recover At Home . "

Nhs England chief executive Amanda Pritchard said The Plan was to build on initiatives introduced this winter.

" Boosting care in the community and treating more people At Home is key to recovery, " She Said . " It is better for patients and their families, as well as easing pressure on NHS services. "

How are your local NHS services coping this winter?

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Last updated: Thursday 26 January

About the data

Data for England is shown by NHS Trust , where The Trust includes at least one hospital with a Type 1 A&E department. Type 1 means a consultant-led 24 hour A&E service with full resuscitation facilities. Data for Wales and Scotland is shown by Health Board and in Northern Ireland by Health and Social Care Trust .

When you enter a postcode for a location in England you will be shown a list of NHS trusts in your area. They will not necessarily be in order of your closest hospital as some trusts have More Than one hospital. Data for Wales and Scotland are shown by NHS board and by Health and Social Care Trust in Northern Ireland .

Comparative data is shown for a previous year where available. However, where trusts have merged there is no like-for-like comparison to show. Earlier data is not available for all measures, so comparisons between years are not always possible.

A&E attendances include all emergency departments in that Trust or health board, not just major A&E departments, for example, those who attend minor injury units.

Each nation has different Target times for some of the measures shown, therefore comparisons between them may not be possible.

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It is hoped The Plan to be set out on Monday will help free up capacity in hospitals, but the measures are not designed to be in place until next winter and won't address immediate challenges.

As well as slow Response Times , recent weeks have seen ambulances stuck outside hospitals and unable to hand over patients to overcrowded A& E departments.

The Strain has eased a little with falling numbers of admissions for flu and Covid patients, but hospital leaders are concerned that this winter may yet bring renewed pressure.

NHS Providers, representing trusts in England, said managers were having to cope with unsafe levels of bed occupancy and more needed to be done to tackle sky-high staff vacancies and escalating strike Action .

Source of news: bbc.com