Welcome to the Virtual Ward website
The Virtual Ward is a place to share good practice between staff and people who use mental health services. The site is designed for all to access information about positive and innovative practice, to read supporting policy and to utilise the examples of training underpinning those examples. You will be able to adjust these to fit your local circumstances. Why not share your ideas and practices with us for others to adopt.
Virtual Ward site news
The Virtual Ward is currently being revised and reconstructed and will be relaunched in the coming months.
Virtual Ward key resource files
recovery: A review of NHS acute
inpatient mental health services:
The pathway to recovery
Helping people through mental
health crisis: the role of CRHT
services:
National Audit Office
acute mental healthcare:
Laying The Foundations
plus LTF template:
LTF template
Review and development of acute
mental health workforce:
More than Just Staffing Numbers
Onwards and upwards:
Onwards and upwards handbook
Positive discharge toolkit
Star Wards website:
Star Wards
NIMHE Mental Health Digest:
What's new on Virtual Ward?
Providing a systematic evaluation
of key existing medicines
management schemes and their
applicability to acute mental
health settings:
Getting the medicines right
This self-assessment toolkit and
guidance takes a whole systems
approach to help Mental Health
Trusts to review their management
of medicines and help drive action
plans for effective local delivery: Medicines Management Self
Assessment Toolkit 2008
Medicines Management Self
Assessment Toolkit Guidance 2008
Research on absconding by
patients on acute psychiatric wards:
Anti absconding booklet
A practical workbook designed to
reduce the number of patients who
go missing from acute wards:
Strategies reduce missing patients
plus self-assessment tool:
Self-assessment tool
South West Acute Inpatient &
CRHT Network Update April 2009:
CSIP SW Acute Inpatient newsletter
The role of psychologists working in
CRHT Teams:
BPS briefing re CRHT