What is a Virtual Ward?
A virtual ward in the NHS is a safe and efficient alternative to hospital care, enabled by technology. It allows patients to receive hospital-level care at home, utilising new technologies such as wearable devices and monitoring tools to provide real-time information on vital signs to a dedicated remote team of health professionals. This approach helps speed up recovery while freeing up hospital beds for those who need them most.
Acute Respiratory Infection Virtual Ward (ARIVW)
The virtual ward aims to safely manage unwell patients with their respiratory conditions from the comfort of their own homes, reducing or removing the need for them to come to or be in our hospital.
The types of patients that the services is suitable for include:
- COPD exacerbations (those patients needing nebulisers)
- Bronchiectasis exacerbations (those patients needing IV antibiotics, in partnership with OPAT and Community IV Team)
- Bronchiectasis exacerbations (those patients on oral antibiotics needing nebulisers including saline, who may or may not physiotherapy)
- CAP (CXR proven) CURB 0-2 with co-morbidities
- CAP (CXR proven) CURB 2 without co-morbidities
- Influenza, covid or RSV (positive swab) with lower respiratory tract infection symptoms for monitoring.
Referring patients
If you think a patient in your care would benefit from this service, you can refer them by taking the following steps:
Refer via ICE (Acute Respiratory Infection Virtual Ward) or call for advice on RLH x2047 AUH x2514, 9am-6pm 7 days a week.
For more information about the Acute Respiratory Infection Virtual Ward contact Paul Tinnion, Clinical Team Leader for the community respiratory team/ARI Virtual Ward on Paul.Tinnion@liverpoolft.nhs.uk .
The Heart Failure Virtual Ward aims to safely manage acutely unwell heart failure patients from the comfort of their own homes, reducing or removing the need for them to be in our hospital through consultant-led HF specialist multidisciplinary input. We accept admission avoidance via A&E/ acute assessment areas, community heart failure teams and early supported ward discharges.
The types of patients that the services is suitable for include (also refer to CHOPS criteria on Trust intranet):
- Patients presenting with symptoms of decompensated Heart Failure including need for increase in oral or intravenous diuretics for management of fluid overload
- High risk Heart Failure patients (based on NT-pro BNP result) requiring rapid optimisation of prognostic medication with the aid of telehealth
NB - As per Trust Heart Failure guidelines, if signs of cardiogenic shock, speak urgently to the cardiologist oncall.
Please request NT-pro BNP for all patients with suspected acute Heart Failure in line with NICE guidance and referral made if age-adjusted NT-pro BNP is elevated (as per lab reference ranges).
Referring patients
If you think a patient in your care would benefit from this service, you can refer them by taking the following steps:
- AUH - Refer via ICE (AUH heart failure nurse alert)/ Bleep 5071/ Tel 0151 529 2247, 8am-8pm, 7 days a week
- RLH - refer via ICE – Heart Failure Support Nurse/ RLH HF nurse office 0151 706 5017, Bleep 4527
For more information about the Heart Failure Virtual Ward contact: HeartFailureVirtualWard
Jane O'Connor (Lead nurse for HFVW): Jane.O'Connor@liverpoolft.nhs.uk
Rajiv Sankaranarayanan (Consultant lead): Rajiv.
Carolyn Jackson (ANP): Carolyn.
The Palliative Care Virtual Ward aims to safely manage patients with life limiting illness who have uncontrolled symptoms in their usual place of residence. We hope this will help patients to feel supported and achieve optimal symptom control in their home, as well as avoiding unnecessary hospital admissions and helping to facilitate a smooth and early supported discharge from hospital in particularly unstable patients.
The palliative care virtual ward is a consultant led service, delivered by a team of experienced and passionate advanced clinical practitioners (ACPs) with specialist multi-disciplinary team input.
The types of patients that the service is suitable for are adult patients with known complex specialist palliative care needs within the North Liverpool/South Sefton/Kirkby area, felt to be appropriate for support by the virtual ward following review by the virtual ward MDT, for example:
- Patients with rapidly progressing/uncontrolled complex symptoms.
- Patients with a complex dying phase with unstable/uncontrolled complex symptoms.
- Patients with a need for urgent assessment i.e. palliative care emergency or crisis intervention.
- Patients who would benefit from more intensive daily specialist monitoring/review secondary to above.
- Early supported hospital/hospice discharge for patients with unmet specialist palliative & end of life care needs.
- Early supported hospital/hospice admission avoidance for patients with unmet specialist palliative & end of life care needs.
Referring patients
Referrals for patients in hospital will need to be referred to the hospital inpatient palliative care team first. (If a patient is in AEC/SDEC and not an inpatient, please contact the IMPaCT advice line to discuss this further and press the option for IMPaCT North: 0300 100 1002).
If you think a patient in your care would benefit from this service, please refer to the corresponding hospital specialist palliative care team to review whether the patient is appropriate to be managed on the palliative care virtual ward:
- AUH - Refer via dashboard to hospital specialist palliative care team/ Bleep 5878 for urgent queries / Tel 0151 529 2098/ 9am-5pm, 7 days a week
- RLH or BGH- Refer via dashboard to hospital specialist palliative care team/ Bleep 4191 for urgent queries / Tel 0151 706 2274/ 9am-5pm, 7 days a week
For more information about the Palliative Care Virtual Ward, please contact:
Palliative Care ACPs: PalliativecareACPs
Dr Laura Shaw (Consultant in palliative medicine, clinical lead for palliative care virtual ward): laura.