Scotland Introduces Digital Hospital Beds: Pioneering a Technological Transformation
Scotland is taking a significant step forward in healthcare delivery with the launch of virtual hospital wards, a move aimed at enhancing care capacity and improving patient experience. The initiative, a collaboration between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and digital health company Doccla, aims to create 1,000 virtual ward beds for hospital-level care at home.
This project is part of a broader strategy to shift the focus of care away from acute settings and into the community. Scotland's virtual hospital initiative aligns with similar goals to expand hospital-at-home models, reducing emergency admissions and waiting times.
The NHS 10-year plan, published in July 2025, emphasizes shifting care delivery from hospital to home, with expanded virtual wards and medical-grade wearables to support remote monitoring. Across the UK, NHS England has expanded virtual wards nationally with over 12,000 virtual beds as of mid-2024.
The partnership between NHSGGC and Doccla will leverage Doccla's real-time remote monitoring technology, facilitating the delivery of hospital-level care at home and supporting NHS systems like NHSGGC to manage patient flow and capacity. Doccla's technology will be integrated with NHSGGC's flow navigation center, a multi-disciplinary hub for remote assessment and treatment of patients.
The initiative aims to reduce hospital admissions by providing more care at home, improving care coordination across health and social care services, and enabling earlier intervention and discharge. The program will also create a new benchmark for virtual hospital care, aligned with Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy.
Clinicians will have access to detailed digital information through apps and remote monitoring, improving their decision-making. First Minister John Swinney has pledged to expand the Hospital at Home initiative by at least 2,000 beds before the end of 2026.
The partnership between NHS Scotland and InnoScot Health, which dates back 23 years, focuses on innovation to enhance patient care. InnoScot Health has been supporting this initiative, with Graham Watson, Executive Chair of InnoScot Health, emphasizing the importance of involving patients in their care decisions and enabling quicker informed actions by clinicians.
The expansion will not require any new hospital buildings, aiming to increase the effective capacity of every hospital in Scotland. The introduction of more virtual hospital wards across Scotland is expected to represent a tech-led revolution in healthcare delivery.
The Scottish Government has announced an investment of £3.6 million GBP for its Hospital at Home initiative for older people in 2024-25, bringing total funding allocation for the initiative to over £15 million GBP since 2020. A phased approach to implementation is expected to commence this summer as part of a three-year strategic program.
This partnership and the resulting virtual hospital wards are expected to improve care, free up hospital capacity, and reduce pressure on the system. The tech-led revolution in healthcare will focus on next-generation care tailored to individuals, allowing people to receive care in familiar home settings.
Detailed published evaluations specifically on the NHSGGC-Doccla collaboration’s impact are not currently available, but further information may be found in forthcoming NHS Scotland or NHSGGC publications or reports.
- The virtual hospital initiative in Scotland, a collaboration between NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) and digital health company Doccla, is part of a broader strategy in health and wellness that aims to improve patient care by shifting care delivery from hospital to home.
- The partnership between NHS Scotland and InnoScot Health, a long-standing alliance focused on innovation, will enable the delivery of digital health services to patients, aligning with Scotland's Digital Health and Care Strategy and the goal of creating a new benchmark for virtual hospital care.
- With the expansion of virtual hospital wards across Scotland, driven by technology, the aim is to provide more personalized health-and-wellness services, reduce the number of hospital admissions, free up hospital capacity, and improve the overall patient experience and care coordination across health and social care services.
