NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to launch 1,000-bed virtual ward
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHS GGC) and digital health company Doccla have announced plans to launch “Scotland’s largest virtual hospital”.
The health board will use Doccla’s remote monitoring technology to establish 1,000 virtual ward beds which enable patients to be treated at home, with the aim of freeing up capacity in acute hospitals and reducing strain on clinicians.
It will be integrated with NHS GGC’s flow navigation centre, a multi-disciplinary hub which allows clinicians to assess and treat patients remotely.
A phased implementation is planned to begin in summer 2025, as part of a three-year strategic programme.
Jann Gardner, chief executive of NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “We are excited to work together to establish the first 1,000 virtual bed hospital embedded within our planned Flow Navigation Centre +Plus and reshape health across the Greater Glasgow and Clyde system.
”This partnership with Doccla is an important step forward.
“It will allow us to deliver the right care in the right place for our patients, helping us to transform and develop our NHS now and into the future.”
NHS GGC is Scotland’s largest health board and among the largest NHS organisations in the UK, serving an estimated 1.3 million people.
As well as freeing up capacity, it is hoped the virtual ward programme will improve clinical decision-making by equipping staff with real-time data from medical devices, enabling them to take informed actions more quickly.
London-based Doccla said that the programme would also reduce workforce pressures by streamlining workflows and making better use of resources, reducing routine checks and avoidable admissions.
Dag Larsson, chief executive at Doccla, said: “Our partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde marks a major milestone in the evolution of virtual care.
“Together, we are laying the foundation for the hospital of the future – digitally enabled, patient-focused, and built around delivering care where it’s needed most.
“This collaboration reflects our shared ambition to unlock the full potential of virtual healthcare across Europe, starting with meaningful impact for patients in Scotland.”
Doccla provides remote monitoring solutions to various virtual ward programmes in the UK and Ireland, including Joined Up Care Derbyshire Integrated Care System and Ireland’s Health Service Executive.
The company secured £35 million in Series B funding in September 2024 to support its expansion in Europe.
Meanwhile, in June 2024, the Scottish government announced an additional investment of £3.6 million to fund its Hospital at Home initiative for older people in 2024- 2025.
Hospital at Home is a remote care scheme which supports people to receive acute support treatments and access hospital tests under the care of a consultant from home.
In January 2025, John Swinney, first minister for Scotland, promised that the Hospital at Home initiative would be expanded to at least 2,000 beds by the end of 2026.
“Without the need for any new bricks and mortar, the effective capacity of every single hospital in Scotland will be expanded.
“Taken together, it is action that will ease acute pressures, reduce delays, cost less to our NHS, and most importantly, help people get better more quickly, more comfortably,”
