Daily Insight: Taking aim at the virtual target

Lower risk patients are being “over monitored” in pursuit of NHS England’s virtual wards target, a royal college has said.

The Royal College of Physicians has told HSJ that NHSE’s target of creating an additional 10,000 virtual ward beds by the end of September is “not helpful” as it is leading the virtual beds to be rolled out to patients who do not require hospital care.

The RCP, along with the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the Society for Acute Medicine, have also criticised acute respiratory hubs – which NHSE wants to roll out as part of its “high impact interventions” ahead of winter. They say the hubs could “create confusion” for patients and lead to delays for people who need hospital treatment.

NHSE has, however, hit back strongly on these criticisms. On virtual wards, NHSE said it was “wrong to suggest that patients who don’t need a hospital bed don’t need any support in a virtual ward”.

On acute respiratory hubs, NHSE added: “There is clear evidence to support the benefits of acute respiratory infection hubs, which are providing vital support to patients with respiratory conditions like covid, flu and RSV every day.”

Lay out the welcome mat

An acute trust’s first ever “managing director” has been appointed as the organisation joins Glen Burley’s growing group of health providers in the West Midlands.

Worcestershire Acute Hospitals Trust has become the latest addition to the Foundation Group, which already contains South Warwickshire FT, Wye Valley Trust and George Eliot Hospital Trust.

Under the model, all trusts in the group are led by Mr Burley as CEO and have a shared chair, but appoint a managing director to oversee daily operations.

For WAHT this role will be taken by Stephen Collman, currently chief executive of Norfolk Community Health and Care Trust, who was also previously chief operating officer at George Eliot and at Herefordshire and Worcestershire Health and Care Trust.

The appointment of Mr Collman, a registered mental health nurse, comes at a time when WAHT is experiencing significant performance problems. It was recently named among the NHS’s most challenged trusts for cancer and elective recovery.

On his departure from NCHC, Mr Collman said he had been “immensely proud” to work as its CEO. He will join WAHT later this year.

Last month, the Worcester trust’s previous CEO Matthew Hopkins left to lead the £1.4bn Mid Essex Hospitals Trust.