The programme
08:30
Registration & Networking
Registration & Networking
09:30
Chair Opening Address (Confirmed)
Dr Gurnak Singh Dosanjh
GP
LLR ICB
Chair Opening Address (Confirmed)
09:40
Keynote Presentation - Hospital at Home (Confirmed)
Natasha Dalton
Consultant Practitioner
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Amy Ross
Advanced Clinical Practitioner
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
Overview of service set up and delivery, including additional contacts and a sneak peek into our future plans.
10:00
Systemwide Virtual Care: Integration, Governance, and Financial Incentives Panel Discussion
Alison Johnson
UK Health Lead
ORCHA
Miss Katie Andrew
Care Community Coach for Macclesfield Neighbourhood Team, District Nursing Out of Hours and Hospital at Home (UCR and VW)
East Cheshire NHS Trust
With virtual wards now positioned as a default model for proactive, home-based care, panellists will discuss how to align these services with Urgent and Emergency Care (UEC) pathways to improve patient flow, reduce hospital congestion, and ensure timely access to appropriate care.
The session will also address the implementation of national clinical standards and governance frameworks, focusing on ensuring patient safety, consistent quality of care, and equity across regions. Panellists will examine how ICSs can balance local flexibility with national requirements, including the use of a centrally procured virtual ward platform and AI-enabled monitoring systems.
Panellists:
10:30
Case Study - Solving Real Challenges in Virtual Wards with Integrated Technology
Laura Thompson
Director of Marketing
Access Group
Case Study - Access
This presentation outlines the operational and clinical challenges facing virtual ward teams and shows how integrated technology can address them. It includes real-world examples and a case study to demonstrate improved patient flow, interoperability, and inclusive care delivery.
10:50
Morning Break & Networking
Morning Break & Networking
11:50
Chair Morning Reflection (Confirmed)
Dr Gurnak Singh Dosanjh
GP
LLR ICB
Chair Morning Reflection (Confirmed)
Case Study - Doccla
Speaker: Tracey Knight, Senior Integration and Transformation Manager at Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland ICB (Confirmed)
12:15
Case Study - From Virtual Ward to 260-Bed Virtual Hospital
Tracy Stocker
Director of Operations for Flow and Integration
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Case Study - Livework
In this joint session, Tracy Stocker (Director of Operations, Medway NHS Foundation Trust) and Livework share how Medway scaled from a single virtual ward to a 260-bed Virtual Hospital, creating measurable improvements in patient flow, safety and workforce efficiency.
Together they reveal the Virtual Hospital Blueprint - an operating model, business case and performance framework any Trust can use to deliver safe, scalable, system-level care.
12:35
Presentation - Lessons from the Frontline: Managing Complexity in Virtual Wards
Alison Davis
Clinical Quality Improvement Lead/Virtual ward Lead
University hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
Esther Birrell
Lead nurse Paediatric virtual ward
UHL University Hospitals Of Leicester NHS Trust
A focused discussion on navigating the realities of delivering safe, effective care to complex patient groups within virtual ward settings.
This session will explore how frontline teams are adapting virtual care models to support patients with multiple long-term conditions, frailty, and high-risk factors such as DVT.
Speakers will share practical experiences of using remote monitoring tools, AI-supported alert systems, and daily multidisciplinary team (MDT) reviews to maintain clinical oversight and patient safety.
12:55
Virtual Ward 2.0 – The Acuity Pyramid in Action
Dr. Debashish Das
Consultant Cardiologist Barts NHS Trust
CEO & Founder Ortus-iHealth
Case Study - Ortus-iHealth
As the NHS moves beyond rapid-response virtual ward roll-outs, attention must shift from pilots to sustainable, standardised and evidence-based remote care. In this session, Dr Debashish Das introduces Virtual Ward 2.0. This is a model grounded in the
Remote Care Acuity Pyramid, aligning patient need with the right level of digital intervention across long-term monitoring, virtual wards and hospital-at-home care.
Drawing on real-world data from over 8,000 patients across Pan-London cardiac pathways, he will showcase how the Heart Failure Rapid Up-Titration and ATLAS Virtual Ward have delivered measurable gains in capacity, safety and patient experience, culminating in a three-fold reduction in mortality in the Elective Cardiac Surgery pathway.
Dr Das will share lessons on standardising, harmonising and scaling digital pathways across specialties, setting the blueprint for how Virtual Ward 2.0 can redefine remote care for the NHS.
14:00
Chair Afternoon Address (Confirmed)
Dr Gurnak Singh Dosanjh
GP
LLR ICB
Chair Afternoon Address (Confirmed)
14:05
Keynote Presentation - The Medway 24hr SMART Virtual Hospital (Confirmed)
Tracy Stocker
Director of Operations for Flow and Integration
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Driving the virtual hospital into the next phase by providing a 24 hr acute virtual ward which is patient centred, efficient and technology driven.
14:25
Scaling Virtual Wards Across Systems: Collaboration, Innovation, and Leadership Panel Discussion
Tracy Stocker
Director of Operations for Flow and Integration
Medway NHS Foundation Trust
Dr. Matea Deliu
Academic GP, Clinical Lead Digital Delivery, Clinical Safety Officer
NHS South East London ICB
Alison Johnson
UK Health Lead
ORCHA
Sue Armstrong
Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Arrhythmias
University Hospitals of Leicester
This panel discussion will explore what it takes to embed virtual wards as a permanent, scalable feature of NHS service delivery beyond 2025, in line with the ambitions of the NHS 10-Year Plan.
With national infrastructure and financial incentives now in place, the focus has shifted to how Integrated Care Boards (ICBs), NHS trusts, and community services can work together to deliver a consistent, equitable virtual ward offer across local systems.
Facilitator:
- Dr. Matea Deliu, Academic GP, Clinical Lead Digital Delivery, Clinical Safety Officer, NHS South East London ICB (Confirmed)
Panellists:
14:55
Chairs Closing Remarks (Confirmed)
Dr Gurnak Singh Dosanjh
GP
LLR ICB
Chairs Closing Remarks (Confirmed)