Hi-tech method to monitor elderly
Trial monitors care home residents
HEALTH: Frail people in care homes are being handed extra help to stay well in a hi-tech initiative in Yorkshire to give early warnings they are falling ill.
Around 70 people have so far taken part in a trial in Sheffield which sees their vital signs closely monitored.
FRAIL PEOPLE in care homes are being handed extra help to stay well in a hi-tech initiative in Yorkshire to give early warnings they are falling ill.
Around 70 people have so far taken part in a trial in Sheffield which sees their vital signs closely monitored.
Details are transmitted electronically to a team of nurses allowing those showing signs of deterioration to be given further checks.
The work is part of a national pilot in the city to test the approach designed to keep people well and cut unnecessary admissions to hospital, saving the NHS vital cash.
Figures for 2016-17 show there were 3,000 attendances at A&E in Sheffield by care home residents, with about two in five admitted for further care in the city’s frailty unit.
A report by the Care Quality Commission into health and care services in Sheffield published in June praised the initiative but warned overall services to prevent hospital admissions in the city were “under-developed”.
Seven care homes have so far taken part in the venture, part of a national programme backed by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to improve working between health and care services.
Residents have key signs including temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and level of consciousness checked and, following advice, those showing signs of deterioration can be given check-ups by GPs or community nurses, or medication reviews.
Emma Smith, manager at Moorend Place in Walkley, a 52bed nursing home specialising in dementia, said: “For our patients, the benefit is the potential to minimise admissions to hospital.
“A change in their environment can have a massive impact on their condition so they need to be treated at their home.
“For our staff, the technology is very good, very quick and very easy to use.”
Amanda Fields, manager at Alexander Court in Crookes, which has 56 nursing and residential beds, said: “The technology has become part of our routine.
“The service enables us to identify somebody who might be starting to become unwell earlier on rather than waiting for the usual symptoms to appear.
“If we are identifying people earlier and can see their stats are out of range, it gives us time to speak to their GP who can start treatment for them. That’s welcome for the patient and the local health budget.”
Bryn Sage, chief executive of technology provider Inhealthcare, said the project was at the “forefront of problem-solving innovation in the NHS” and demonstrated how health and care staff could make the best use of latest technology.
It also offered extra reassurance to residents and their relatives.
In its report following a review carried out in Sheffield early this year, the CQC called for action to develop services to prevent people being admitted to hospital.
The benefit is the potential to minimise admissions to hospital. Emma Smith, manager at Moorend Place in Walkley, Sheffield.