Introduction to the Virtual Wards Minimum Dataset

Note: This webinar is for colleagues from provider organisations and ICBs involved in delivery, monitoring, and commissioning of virtual ward services. As such we can only accept registrations from nhs.net, gov.uk or other health or social care work email addresses.   

Virtual wards (also known as hospital at home) are a core element of the plan to improve urgent and emergency care and an integral part of the neighbourhood health services model, allowing patients to receive hospital-level care at home while freeing up hospital beds in wards. 

The 25/26 planning guidance sets out the requirement for providers to improve access to virtual ward services and to adhere to the 'Federated Data Platform (FDP) First' policy to connect their data infrastructure to the FDP.

To support this, NHS England is implementing a virtual wards Minimum Dataset (MDS) through the Federated Data Platform that will deliver a single, daily, consistent view of virtual ward activity at a patient level to support operational delivery of virtual wards whilst reducing the manual data burden on providers. The MDS will greatly improve the ability of NHS England, ICBs and providers to monitor virtual ward activity daily and evaluate the impact of virtual wards as a tool for improvement. Providers and ICBs will have access to data analysis, insights, and data quality metrics on FDP.

This webinar will provide an overview of the MDS and has the following agenda:

• Purpose of the MDS
• The data specification
• Submission process
• Implementation timeline

Questions about this event?

Name: Zelda Tobias-Kotyk

Email: england.virtualward@nhs.net

Telephone: Not Applicable