June 2026
By Laurence Smith, Greybeard Healthcare Co-Founder
and Kev Sutherland, renowned cartoonist
Here at Greybeard, every day we find ourselves in meetings where the conversation turns to the importance of ‘virtual hospitals’. And yet, in a sector renowned for its precision (ORs would be fraught with danger if a multiplicity of different terms were used for the same thing), there is no agreed definition of what a ‘virtual hospital’ actually means.
Many articles which purport to discuss virtual hospitals turn out, on closer inspection, to focus purely on telehealth.
One of our favorite definitions was proposed by doocla, the telemonitoring provider: “Virtual Hospitals are a healthcare model that replicates the services of a traditional hospital but within a patient’s home or care facility. They utilise digital technology to monitor and manage patients remotely, offering continuous support without the need for hospital admission. Unlike traditional hospitals, Virtual Hospitals provide comprehensive care using remote monitoring, telemedicine, and data integration systems, aiming to manage patients with complex health needs, chronic conditions, or those recovering from acute illnesses” [1].
However, even this has its shortcomings; when we’ve roadtested it with senior practitioners, there was a concern it implies all traditional hospital services can be replicated – which would be a highly controversial suggestion, certainly within the foreseeable future.
At this point, we decided that perhaps an alternative approach was needed – less reliant on words, and more reliant on pictures.
Which meant it was time to call upon the services of renowned cartoonist Kev Sutherland, who has come to Greybeard’s aid on a number of occasions – especially when eye-catching visualisation was the only way to jump-start a project that was at risk of stalling. Kev has worked extensively for most of the major comic book publishers, and delivers his famed ‘comic art masterclass’ at a glittering array of schools, colleges and festivals.
Kev spoke with a selection of healthcare visionaries who had a role in scoping and developing services that were suitable for non-hospital delivery, including experts in rehabilitation, long term care, respiratory services, laboratory diagnostics, nursing, infusion and much more.
His creative juices flowing and mind sizzling with ideas, it was time to unleash the mighty pen and create an image which …
… nope, we won’t try to describe it; that would defeat the entire point!
Instead, we share it with you below, in all its technical glory, for you to savor.
A delicious footnote to this story. At the time, we were working closely with a major hospital provider who saw the picture and felt it captured the essence of the concept with such aplomb that a bespoke version was crafted, with their branding judiciously incorporated; this was framed and displayed prominently throughout the premises.
Notes
[1] doocla at https://www.doccla.com/post/what-are-virtual-hospitals
