Virtual wards saved trust £1.3m a year

Virtual ward beds are £450 cheaper per day than traditional hospital ones, researchers have found in a landmark study.

It found around £1.3m was saved per year by the “hospital at home” service at West Hertfordshire Teaching Hospitals Trust.

Expanding virtual wards, where some acute services are delivered in patients’ homes, have been a big feature of government and NHS England health policy since covid-19.

Yet some experts question the cost-effectiveness of the policy, and early studies have yielded mixed results.

Niall Keenan, one of the researchers on the study from West Herts, and chair of the East of England clinical advisory group for virtual wards, told HSJ the new research is believed to be the largest to date in England.

It comes after NHS leaders told HSJ earlier this year that virtual wards were being targeted for cuts this year in a bid to balance the books.

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Source: HSJ, 12 June 2025