St Rocco’s Hospice was commissioned by ICB Place following a successful bid from the Digital Health Partnership to develop and deliver a 12-month pilot for a virtual ward for specialist Palliative Care beds across Warrington. This model was the first pilot to provide a Community Virtual Palliative care Ward. The development of which and outcomes have influenced the national roll-out from NHSE guidance which sought to deliver over 100,000 VW beds that would have positive patient outcomes and system impact. NHSE Guidance (Supporting Information for ICS leads Enablers for Success: virtual wards including hospital at home; April 22) details that a two-year comprehensive roll-out of the concept before longer term re-current funding would be considered. This is in line with the system ‘ask’ to make plans to expand VW capacity as fast and as safely as practicable, taking into account local circumstances, workforce availability and existing services as well as building on existing digital forms and platforms where these are established.

The Palliative Care VW currently contributes significantly to the ICB Place implementation of the national VW model of care with a high number of patient numbers and high value outcomes that will contribute to a positive evaluation in relation to an early adopter, especially from a palliative care perspective.

The 12 month pilot has provided a blueprint for the continuation of a palliative virtual ward at place. This poster presents the learning and development of the model over the last 12 months, identifying the operational challenges and opportunities and patient impact over the last year. The poster presents the next key areas for development in the implementation of the medical oversight for the palliative virtual ward for the next 12 months and alignment as part of the national virtual ward implementation.