After treating more than 6,400 children over the last year, NHS England's hospital at home service will expand its virtual wards to cover children in every region of England from this month.

More than 160,000 adult patients have been successfully treated on virtual wards including hospital-at-home services since April last year. The rollout to children and young people will come as part of the NHS plan to create an extra 10,000 virtual ward beds by winter.

NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said the virtual wards programme has “provided peace of mind” to parents who have used them during trials in Blackpool, Dudley and Dorset. She said:

“As the NHS celebrates its 75th anniversary, it is amazing to see how services have changed since our foundation. Virtual wards are already providing excellent care to families when their children are sick, and this expansion will enable thousands more to receive high quality care from home.

“Being treated at home can have a hugely positive impact on patients – it means they receive hospital-level care, but it also means they are not separated from their families – providing peace of mind for loved ones.

“As we look to the next 75 years of the NHS, we will continue to embrace the latest technologies and innovations to meet the changing needs of patients while ensuring that care is as convenient as possible.”

NHS England’s Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery Plan set out guidance to support systems implement new models of virtual wards, in more clinical areas including heart failure and paediatrics, with the guidelines to be put in place to allow systems to scale up ahead of winter.