Hospices create virtual ward for end of life care

Four hospices are working together in a new collaboration to change the way specialist palliative and end of life care is delivered across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent.

Compton Care, Dougie Mac, Katharine House Hospice and St Giles Hospice have come together to deliver the Rapid Response and Hospice Virtual Ward.

Backed by investment from NHS Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Integrated Care Board (ICB), the initiative aims to expand hospice services across the county and benefit "hundreds more patients".

The four hospices hope to allow more people to access care closer to home, remain in their preferred place of care and avoid unnecessary hospital admissions, in what they believe to be one of the first collaborations of its kind in England,