Hospitals: Coronavirus

(asked on 28th January 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what measures are in place to ensure that covid-19 patients are not discharged to a virtual ward earlier than is safe to do so.


Answered by
Edward Argar Portrait
Edward Argar
Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
This question was answered on 2nd February 2022

No patient should be discharged until it is safe to do so. Existing guidance states that hospitals should determine the level of support each individual needs to ensure they are placed onto the most appropriate discharge pathway.

The COVID-19 virtual ward standard operating procedure provides the entry criteria for a virtual ward and notes that clinical judgement remains paramount for all assessments, particularly for patients with higher risk factors or other complicating medical conditions. Virtual wards provide safe and convenient care for patients. However, if patients require round the clock in-person hospital care, they would not meet the entry criteria for a virtual ward. The standard operating procedure is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/coronavirus/wp-content/uploads/sites/52/2021/01/C1517-covid-virtual-ward-standard-operating-procedure-v2.pdf

NHS England’s operational planning guidance sets out an ambition for the deployment of virtual wards beyond the peak of the Omicron variant. By December 2023, NHS England expect systems to have completed the development of virtual wards, towards a national ambition of 40 to 50 virtual beds per 100,000 population. The operational planning guidance is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/B1160-2022-23-priorities-and-operational-planning-guidance-v2.pdf

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