Healthwatch Shropshire seeks patient feedback on virtual wards
A health watchdog group in Shropshire wants to hear from patients who have used new home based ‘virtual wards’
The chief officer at Healthwatch Shropshire told a meeting that she had been trying ‘for nearly two years’ to carry out a survey of patients.
The Shropshire Community NHS Trust says that virtual wards allow patients to receive hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes.
It is open to all patients over the age of 18 who are registered with a Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin GP, regardless of where they live.
Lynn Cawley, chief officer at Healthwatch Shropshire, said: “For two years nearly, I’ve been trying to do a piece of work around virtual wards to understand people’s experiences of using them.
“I did have a meeting with the clinical director about this piece of work, and they are generally in support of us doing it, but the challenge that we have is that we need them to help us reach out to the people who have used the virtual wards.
“We’ve developed a survey. The idea is that one of their members of staff or volunteers will phone people who have used the virtual ward over the past few months and get their lived experience.
“I think there are a lot of people who are benefiting from that and there is a massive misunderstanding amongst the population on what it is and isn’t.”
After the meeting of Shropshire Council’s health overview and scrutiny committee a spokesperson for Shropshire Community Health NHS Trust (Shropcom) said it welcomes Healthwatch’s ‘support’.
The spokesperson said: “We recognise how valuable it is to understand people’s experiences of care, to continually improve our services.
“We welcome Healthwatch Shropshire’s support to gather feedback on our virtual ward services, alongside our other patient feedback routes.
“Virtual wards have played an important role in allowing patients to receive hospital-level care in the comfort of their own homes.
“This approach supports better outcomes, improved patient satisfaction and helps to reduce pressure on our hospitals.”
