Britain's first "virtual hospital" gets go ahead

A prototype "virtual hospital" that will monitor patients in their own homes from control centres around the country is being developed in Britain with a £10m ($16m) Treasury grant for public service modernisation.

The project will be led by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency and will target hospital patients who need to remain under the care of medical staff but whose condition can be managed in their own homes. Thousands of patients are likely to be offered the chance to participate in the two year scheme, which will attempt to exploit the potential and principles of portable medical equipment that has been designed for the battlefield in a civilian context.

Suitable NHS patients will be provided with monitoring equipment that they can use to take readings of their own blood pressure, lung function, and, in the case of patients with coronary heart disease, cardiac function.

Some may be given computer terminals so that information can be sent electronically via a telephone line and a modem to a control centre that will route it to the specialist in charge of the patient's care. Others may take readings from the devices and report these over the telephone to the relevant specialist's office.

"The potential savings for the NHS, and the benefits to patients, are considerable," said Keith Smith, the marketing manager of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency. "Patients could go home from hospital much earlier than at present when they are simply being monitored."

Judy Jones, London


studentBMJ 2000;08:175-216 June ISSN 0966-6494