Virtual inpatient surgical service.

An increased number of emergency secondary care surgical admissions has intensified the challenge of meeting acute care patients' needs, while not interrupting elective admissions. Aneurin Bevan University Health Board is striving to work differently, with the introduction of an innovative nurse practitioner-led virtual inpatient (VIP) surgical service. VIP is designed to manage emergency patients safely, effectively and in a timely manner, enabling them to return home while waiting for investigations. This article describes the service and outlines the main outcomes, which include increasing the number of surgical emergency patients managed as VIPs, shortening VIP stays, providing more timely access to investigations and saving money for the health board.