This is an NIHR funded project to assess the impact of ‘virtual wards’ on the carbon footprint of acute care. It will examine whether digital-enabled care at home can reduce the environmental impact of acute care for people with acute respiratory infections, heart failure and exacerbations of frailty, while maintaining good outcomes for patients. Acute care is one of the biggest contributors to NHS emissions. Virtual wards offer one possible way to reduce this by allowing some patients to receive hospital-level care at home through remote monitoring and clinical support.

The research will take place across four Integrated Care Board (ICB) areas in Northern England: Lancashire and South Cumbria, Cheshire and Merseyside, and North East and North Cumbria. It will use workshops with professionals, a mixed-methods survey of NHS staff, an energy use survey with patients and carers, and service use data from participating ICBs. It will also examine whether environmental impact is important to patients and carers, and how that information can be communicated in ways that support informed choice.

The research will run from April 2026 to March 2029 and will involve collaboration with Lancaster University Management School, and externally with the University of Cumbria and the University of Lancashire.

Project overview infographic