The RCP has welcomed NHS England’s online hospital plans but warned that integration, quality, and workforce training must be central to their success.
Professor Mumtaz Patel, RCP president, said:
“Giving patients more flexibility and consistency has real potential to improve access and reduce variation. The ability to fit appointments and tests around people’s lives – including evenings and weekends – could make a real difference, particularly people who work during the day, as well as older patients, those with caring commitments, and people who struggle to travel.
“The new online hospital must be fully integrated with existing NHS systems, to ensure continuity of care and the seamless sharing of information. Patients moving between virtual and physical services should never find their records trapped in a digital silo. We also need to think about how we can include medical training in this model in the future – if we are to sustain the pipeline of future consultants, resident doctors must be able to learn, teach and be supervised within this new model to the same standards as in physical NHS trusts. This is a good opportunity to think about new and innovative ways of training the future medical workforce.
“This is an ambitious idea, but if implemented well, this concept could scale up good practice across England, reduce variation in care and improve access for more patients. We support giving patients more control and choice over their health, but it’s crucial that we also maintain high standards, improve integration and carefully consider the workforce and training implications.”