St Helens and Knowsley virtual wards can help recovery, consultant says

Virtual wards that allow patients to be discharged and monitored from home have a "big impact on their recovery", a consultant at a Merseyside health trust has said.

They were started last year by the NHS for Covid-19 patients and the scheme is being expanded.

Patient Gill Telford who is recovering from pneumonia said she was happy to be monitored in the comfort of her own home rather than in Whiston Hospital.

"I can sleep better," she told BBC North West Tonight.

Dr Ragit Varia, consultant at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "Largely patients who are elderly and frail like to be in their familiar surroundings with people that they know."

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11 August 2022