A further 3,000 ‘hospital at home’ beds are to be created before next winter as part of plans to support 50,000 vulnerable people a month in the community in high-tech ‘virtual wards’.

The plans are part of an Urgent and Emergency Care Plan to reduce waiting times and improve care for patients announced today.

Health and social care secretary Steve Barclay said: “The health and care service is facing significant pressures and while there is no quick fix, we can take immediate action to reduce long waits for urgent and emergency care.

“Up to 20% of hospital admissions are avoidable with the right care in place. By expanding the care provided in the community, the most vulnerable, frail and elderly patients can be better supported to continue living independently or recover at home.

“This includes rolling out more services to help with falls and frailty as well as supporting up to 50,000 patients a month to recover in the comfort of their own homes. Not only will patients benefit from better experiences and outcomes, it will ease pressure on our busy emergency departments.”

Urgent community response teams will be scaled up to increase the number of referrals and patients seen by a range of health and social care professionals within two hours, with services running 12 hours a day.

As part of this, ambulance crews who are with the patient at their home can arrange a remote consultation with input from a consultant to agree the best course of action – from monitoring on a virtual ward to a face-to-face assessment. Thanks to this approach, there has been a 16% reduction in the number of patients aged over 75 being taken to hospital in an ambulance, enabling frail older adults to recover at home where that is best for them.

The investment in care in the community comes after the announcement earlier this month of up to £250 million to fund extra care home beds to help ease winter pressures on the NHS.