Rebecca Housley

I am the Consultant Nurse leading the Virtual Health Hub at Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The Hub oversees three key services designed to support patients to receive seamless care at home, ensuring they receive the right care, in the right place, from the right clinician.

The first service is our Telemedicine Service, which supports more than 260 care homes across Hampshire with acute medical presentations. Through remote clinical consultations, we enable residents to remain in their care home whenever appropriate, while ensuring timely access to medical review and hospital treatment when required.

The second service is our Single Point of Access (SPoA), which supports community colleagues by facilitating inpatient admissions and providing medical advice. This service ensures patients are reviewed by the most appropriate specialty in a timely manner. Strong collaboration with our community partners is essential in creating a joined-up healthcare system and ensuring a smooth patient journey.

The third service is our Virtual Wards, which plays a pivotal role in both admission avoidance and reducing inpatient length of stay. We currently deliver and manage nine specialty virtual wards, enabling patients to receive high-quality hospital-level care within their own homes.

My presentation highlights a study that we completed in partnership with the NHS Greener team, which has since been published in the BMJ. The research demonstrates the carbon-saving benefits of caring for patients on a virtual ward compared with traditional hospital admission. We are the first organisation to explore and publish these findings, contributing valuable evidence to the growing body of work around sustainable healthcare. As healthcare organisations strive to reduce their environmental impact, understanding and measuring the benefits of innovative models of care is increasingly important.

Prior to this role, I worked across a range of clinical settings, including critical care, the emergency department, and community healthcare services. These experiences have shaped my passion for delivering innovative, patient-centred models of care that improve outcomes and enhance patient experience.

Outside of work, I enjoy travelling and spending as much time outdoors as possible, particularly walking and exploring new places.