A virtual hospital which cared for nearly 4,000 Covid patients at home will expand across the East of England.

The West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust set up the first virtual hospital to treat Covid patients using an app, and after 3,600 patients being treated with the technology – this will expand to other regions.

Patients can recover at home by keeping the hospital’s respiratory team updated through an app.

Depending on the health of each patient, they follow a schedule for uploading key health data; - such as heart rate, temperature and the oxygen levels in their blood, which they measure using a small piece of equipment called an oximeter.

Algorithms work with the app and can track subtle changes in patients’’ symptoms, sending alerts hen measurements move out of a set range. If data is concerning, then patients can be moved quickly to hospital.

The technology means hospital beds can be kept for those who really need them, and it is estimated that at least 1,000 beds have been saved since the pilot started.

Dr Andrew Barlow, from the West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust, has been appointed as a clinical lead for Covid virtual hospitals in the East of England region.

Dr Barlow said: “We’re so pleased that what started life as an idea mapped out on a kitchen table has turned into an established way of helping Covid patients get over their illness in the comfort of their own homes. I am delighted to be able to share our success with other hospitals and to show them how this way of working should be as much a part of their clinical care as ward rounds.”

He added: “Teamwork played a huge part in getting this project off the ground, even to the point of family members compiling the oximeter and information leaflet packs. These were then hand delivered by the team, some of them taking to two wheels to combine their exercise with this important task! We were just so keen to get the pilot going because our research and planning pointed to it being a better way of treating many of our Covid patients.”