There is strong national support to expand Children and Young People’s (CYP) Hospital at Home (HaH) and Virtual Ward services, with RCPCH and the RCN highlighting the importance of ensuring CYP are fully included in the shift of care closer to home. Across the country, CYP HaH models spanning both general and specialist paediatric services have developed organically and are already delivering meaningful benefits for children and families. The key opportunity now is not implementation, strengthening and bringing together the research and real‑world evidence that these services are generating. Building on the rich learning shared at the recent NIHR Paediatric HaH / Virtual Ward Conference, there is significant potential to consolidate insights, evaluate impact, and establish a clearer, shared understanding of outcomes for children, families, and services.
Hospital at Home and Virtual Wards are acute hospital level models of care provided in the child’s home. Hospital at Home provides hospital-level care for acute conditions that would normally require an acute hospital bed, in a patient’s home. Together, these approaches aim to reduce avoidable hospital admissions, support safe care closer to home, and improve the experience for children and families while maintaining high standards of clinical safety and responsiveness.
This project places research, evaluation, and evidence generation at its core. We are working collaboratively with families, clinicians, and system partners to understand how these models of care work in practice, what outcomes they achieve, and how they can best meet the needs of diverse communities. Working with our partners, we aim to build a robust evidence base that supports healthier children, stronger families, and more sustainable services.
Aligned with the NHS 10‑Year Plan, this applied research will help ensure every child receives high-quality care in the right place, at the right time guided by strong evidence and shaped by those who use and deliver it.
West Yorkshire – 111 / Paramedic Paediatric Clinical Advisory Service
Hospital @ Home / Virtual Wards
