Case Study: NHS Fife plans integrated care and tests virtual ward capacity with SIMUL8

NHS Fife Plans Integrated Care Using Simulation

NHS Fife worked with SIMUL8 to better understand how an aging population would affect demand for older people’s health and social care services, and to assess the risks and capacity implications of introducing a virtual ward. The team needed a way to test planning assumptions before making a major investment decision.

Using SIMUL8 simulation software, specifically Scenario Generator, NHS Fife modeled the existing care system and tested different virtual ward scenarios, including whether staff assessments ran 5 or 7 days a week. The simulation showed how the new service would affect bed capacity, when virtual ward capacity would run out, how demand would grow over time, and the likely cost impact; NHS Fife then validated the results against real data to build confidence in the findings.

NHS Fife

Ken Laurie

Director of Strategic Change