Virtual wards that are part of a collaboration between three key providers of community health services across Mid and South Essex (MSE) are helping to keep people out of A&E.

The Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative (MSECC) is delivered in partnership between Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (EPUT), North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and Provide Community Interest Company (Provide CIC).

As of December 2023, the MSECC Virtual Hospital programme has 60 Frailty beds, 60 Hospital@Home beds, 30 Respiratory beds, and 30 Adult Mental Health beds.

According to NELFT NHS Foundation Trust, over 5,000 patients have received hospital-level care in their own home, saving over 32,000 hospital bed days.

The anticipated trajectory of 172 beds provided across Mid and South Essex has been exceeded beyond the expected with a total 180 bed capacity and the initial ambition of 25 per cent of the Mental Health and Respiratory Virtual Wards Service being enabled by health technology has been exceeded with 30 per cent of the programme now enabled.

Stephanie Dawe, CEO for Provide Health and Quality Lead for Mid and South Essex Community Collaborative said: “I am immensely proud of our colleagues that work tirelessly to help support our most vulnerable population. Their kindness, expertise and understanding of our service users’ needs has enabled us to look back at the last year with pride, caring for people in their own homes or places of residence, to improve their care, experiences, and health outcomes.”