Evaluation of remote monitoring technology begins in Derbyshire care homes

Published: 13-Jan-2021

Derbyshire health and care organisations evaluate the impact of digital monitoring technology to detect deterioration in care home residents

Joined Up Care Derbyshire is working with Spirit Digital to introduce its remote monitoring platform, CliniTouch Vie, as part of a trial for Derbyshire care homes.

The new platform is designed to identify early signs of deterioration in care home residents, enabling staff to escalate and communicate this in a timely manner.

Catching deterioration of residents early can significantly improve outcomes and will create better ways of working for care home staff, making the most of their time and skills.

Leicester-headquartered Spirit Digital’s remote monitoring platform, CliniTouch Vie, has been augmented with functionality to meet the specific needs of care home residents and staff.

We have been working over the last few months to make this latest technology available to help the NHS with its COVID-19 response, and have enhanced it to help medical teams quickly identify when a person exhibits health deterioration

Using the platform, carers will take residents’ regular vital signs, including respirations, oxygen saturations, blood pressure, heart rate, temperature and assessment of their consciousness level on a digital device and answer personalised questions to identify changes in everyday wellbeing.

These readings are provided directly to specialist clinical staff who can then remotely connect with the care home staff to provide health and wellbeing advice, and intervene when more-urgent care is needed.

As part of the trial, an education and training portal will be provided for all care home staff using the technology.

The evaluation will last six months and work has started with the early-adopter care homes, with others being contacted through December and into the New Year.

The results will be used to provide evidence as to whether a large-scale deployment of this digital approach would be beneficial to the health and care system in Derbyshire, the East Midlands, and, potentially, nationally.

Dawn Atkinson, head of the Derbyshire digital workstream, at Joined Up Care Derbyshire, comments: “This project is an exciting opportunity to test and evaluate how a digital solution can help care home teams to feel more supported by health services as they monitor the health and wellbeing of their residents.

Being able to identify early warning signs of deterioration and intervene accordingly is key to keeping people safe in their environment and prevent avoidable hospital admissions, critical in today’s environment

“We look forward to working with the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network and Spirit Digital to test whether a digital platform can impact on the dual challenges of identifying deteriorating care home residents early, enabling staff to escalate residents to the correct and appropriate service, and providing a solution for primary care networks to fulfil the ability to perform remote home rounds in a structured way.

“We aim to ensure high-quality, consistent care to residents within care homes while also ensuring the safety of residents, carers and clinicians.”

Simon Applebaum, managing director at Spirit Digital, adds: “We have been working over the last few months to make this latest technology available to help the NHS with its COVID-19 response, and have enhanced it to help medical teams quickly identify when a person exhibits health deterioration so they can intervene earlier.

“We are proud to be in a position to support both the NHS and vulnerable people in Derbyshire through the development of CliniTouch Vie specifically for care home residents and carers.

“Being able to identify early warning signs of deterioration and intervene accordingly is key to keeping people safe in their environment and prevent avoidable hospital admissions, critical in today’s environment.

Joined Up Care Derbyshire is the county’s Integrated Care System (ICS), bringing together health and social care organisations and the East Midlands Academic Health Science Network (EMAHSN), the region’s innovation arm of the NHS working to test and spread innovative health and care solutions.

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