Researchers have found that virtual wards produce significantly lower carbon emissions compared to traditional inpatient care, highlighting their potential as a sustainable healthcare model. The study, which compared carbon costs, revealed a substantial difference in emissions between the two care pathways.

The research team initially calculated general practitioner (GP) call-outs for a random sample of 30 patients using a manual audit. Subsequently, they expanded the data collection to include all 1260 patients, utilizing an internal data collection system. A pre-existing method was employed to estimate the “predicted stay” in the hospital for both virtual ward and traditional inpatient care routes.

The findings indicated a meaningful disparity in carbon costs, with virtual wards emitting considerably less carbon throughout the entire episode of care. On average, an inpatient bed emits 37.9 kg CO₂, which is four times more than a virtual ward bed day, which emits 8.8 kg CO₂. Between May 2022 and May 2023, avoided carbon emissions totaled 285 metric tons of CO₂.

However, the researchers clarified that this does not translate to an overall carbon reduction for the hospital, as inpatient beds remained occupied by other patients. Instead, it signifies an increase in the hospital’s capacity to care for more patients.

The reduced carbon footprint of virtual wards is particularly relevant as the NHS aims to establish 40-50 virtual ward beds per 100,000 of the population, according to the researchers.

“Having a [virtual ward] in place will not decrease overall carbon emissions for the hospital but enable more patients to be cared for in the moast efficient and lowest carbon way possible, enabling the hospital’s capacity to increase and for teams to manage more patients with the same number of inpatient beds,” they write.

the manual audit showed higher carbon costs, primarily due to the inclusion of external factors not captured by internal hospital data systems, the researchers noted.

The study acknowledges limitations, including the absence of data on carbon emissions from typical home use. Rather, they relied on government calculations, estimating average home carbon emissions at 7.4 kg CO₂/day. The researchers also noted that patients do not always fit neatly into mapped pathways,underscoring the complexity of carbon mapping care pathways.

Nevertheless, they concluded, “[Virtual wards] look like a promising way for hospitals to increase capacity in a model of sustainable health care that aligns with the triple bottom line analysis of high-quality care, value for money, and low associated carbon emissions.”

They added, “We know that a traditional inpatient bed is a very high-carbon/resource-intensive method of treating patients. As our population increases, we will need to create more effective, less resource-intensive ways to treat our local population without having to build more hospitals as this is extremely high cost, high carbon, and will require additional workforce.”

“having a [virtual ward] in place will not decrease overall carbon emissions for the hospital but enable more patients to be cared for.”

Understanding Virtual Wards and Carbon Footprint

Virtual wards are increasingly recognized as a key component of sustainable healthcare.By allowing patients to receive care at home, these wards not only increase hospital capacity but also significantly reduce carbon emissions. This approach aligns with global efforts to minimize the environmental impact of healthcare services.