What is our virtual ward?
Tuesday 27th April
- The Lantern
In order to minimise the risk of infection during the pandemic we acted swiftly to change how we deliver care.
In December we began trialing a virtual ward model as our inpatient unit (IPU) closed due to the second wave of the pandemic. So, what is a virtual ward?
Our Director of Care, Matt Sweeting explains this new care model:
“We learned from the first wave of the pandemic that people wanted to be cared for at home and spend time with their loved ones without the restrictions present in hospital and care home settings. In response, we created our virtual ward model. “
“Our virtual ward provides an enhanced level of care, but in the comfort of patients’ homes. Patients have the benefit of receiving Farleigh care with their home comforts around them."
“What we have strived to achieve with this is consistency. The healthcare team remains the same for the patient just as it would in the IPU, so that we can meet their needs efficiently without the patient or their family having to retell their story multiple times. Our locality care teams work through the night where needed, providing specialist care interventions and supporting family members."
“We already have some wonderful accounts of how people have been able to stay at home and be cared for with our 24/7 virtual ward response. I am really grateful to all the clinical teams for making this happen so quickly and ensuring we can deliver patient centered care where people want it.”
“We are really proud of how well it has worked and want to continue providing this service when our IPU reopens in the summer. Our vision is to provide wraparound services that can support both at home and inpatient care. We will be looking to source new revenues for funding so that we can make this vision a reality.”
