UHL Virtual Ward saves over 10,000 hospital bed‑days

Technology links patients at home with Virtual Ward team at UHL

“I’d opt for the Virtual Ward system all the time if I could!” says Shannon patient

THE ACUTE Virtual Ward at University Hospital Limerick is helping to transform hospital healthcare in the Mid West, with remote technology allowing suitable patients to be treated and monitored safely at home, freeing up valuable inpatient beds for the hospital management of more acutely ill patients.

Since the ward opened at UHL on 1st July, 2024, a total of 1,128 patients have been onboarded, saving 10,603 inpatient bed-days across general medicine and surgery referral pathways, and specialised referral pathways including cardiology, respiratory, TIA, gynaecology and orthopaedic.

Virtual Ward patients take home a technology kit, including a tablet and medical diagnostic equipment that links the patient with the central hub in UHL, allowing for 24/7 monitoring. Average ‘length of stay’ is approx. 6-7 days, and when discharged, the patient simply returns the kit to UHL via registered post.

Based on feedback, patients are very happy, rating the experience as “very good”, and awarding an average 4.8 out of 5 for patient safety.

One such patient is Shannon resident Margaret Curtin (77), who recalls her amazement at being told, after having spent a night in ED with bronchial pneumonia, that there was an option of continuing her recovery from home.

“Two doctors came to me on the ward and asked if I would like to go home, and then the Virtual Ward nurses came to explain how the system works. I’m glad my daughters were with me because they understood what had to be done, and before long we were on the way home.” Margaret recalled.

“Every morning and evening, my daughter helped me use the kit to take my blood pressure, temperature and heartrate, and all that information goes to the hospital automatically through the tablet. Then I had two follow-up calls from the nurses on the ward every day, and they would go through the results, and ask me how I was feeling, and after a week, it was all done. It was absolutely brilliant – I felt very well looked after,” she said.

Margaret added:

She concluded: “Please God I won’t be needing them again, but I’d opt for the Virtual Ward system all the time if I could!”

Along with St Vincent’s Hospital Dublin, UHL was at the vanguard of Acute Virtual Wards in Ireland, opening in mid-2024 for cardiology and respiratory patients. A collaboration between the HSE’s National Strategical Programmes and eHealth offices, and European virtual ward IT specialists Doccla, the programme has since extended to the Midlands Regional Hospital in Tullamore.

The initial success at UHL has driven expansion of the referral pathways to include general medicine, respiratory-asthma pathway, respiratory supplementary oxygen pathway; minor stroke/TIA; rehab; orthopaedic post-operative knee & hip (with Croom Orthopaedic Hospital); gynaecology; and a respiratory pathway for St John’s Hospital. Discussions are ongoing to build new patient specific pathways.

Chief Director of Nursing & Midwifery for HSE Mid West Acute Hospitals, Ber Murphy, said: “The Acute Virtual Ward is a very safe and effective way for caring for patients in their home. We’re pleased to hear the positive feedback from Margaret and all patients referred to the ward. It’s proven to be a very empowering option for patients of all ages. There are obvious advantages for home-based treatment, especially for older people who live a distance from the hospital. Over the lifetime of the service we’ve steadily increased the number of pathways, and we’ll continue to use and expand this important service, with an ongoing increase in patient-specific pathway development.”