Apps ‘track discharged patients’

DISCHARGED hospital patients could be given tracking apps to alert doctors if they fall ill again, the new Health Secretary has said.

Matt Hancock – who took over from Jeremy Hunt on Monday – also suggested the devices could free-up beds more quickly by informing nurses when patients had left hospital.

He said: ‘Technology has a proven ability to radically change the world for the better – be it in finance, in education and in transport.

‘But nowhere does technology have greater potential to improve lives than in healthcare. Artificial intelligence can help spot early stages

of cancer, giving patients a better chance of survival.’ He told the Health Service Journal: ‘Apps can monitor patients as they leave care and alert doctors or GPs if there are any problems that arise after leaving care.

‘I’ve seen how tracking devices can reduce the time needed to ensure the right patients are in the right place at the right time.’

On Tuesday, Mr Hancock visited University College London Hospital, where he was shown its ‘patient-flow software’ wristbands, which are dropped into a box to alert staff that beds are free when patients are discharged.