App that will get patients fit for surgery

A HEALTH app is promising to shorten hospital stays and speed up recovery from major surgery by helping patients get fitter before they go under the knife.

Private healthcare firm Sapien Health will soon begin working with dozens of NHS Trusts to provide personalised diet plans and exercise programmes on patients’ smartphones in the

run-up to operations and during the recovery phase afterwards.

Once patients receive a surgery date and have downloaded the app, a specially trained coach contacts them and goes through a set of questions to determine their fitness level and diet regime. The coaches then design health goals which can be anything from losing weight to helping patients feel more energised by taking up a new activity, all of which is accessed through the app.

Each week the coach will have a 20-minute call with the patient to monitor their progress.

The programme typically begins two months before a patient’s operation and continues until a month afterwards.

Dr Rebecca Barker, a consultant anaesthetist at Sherwood Forest NHS Trust which piloted the service, says: ‘It’s really important that patients are prepared for surgery because research shows they are going to recover quicker, return home faster and have fewer complications.

‘From what we’ve seen, patients really enjoy the programme and are more motivated to help themselves get better.’

Each patient who uses the app costs the health service

£120. But the experts behind it say it may help to reduce the number of cancelled operations every year, many of which are due to patients being too unfit for surgery.

Improving fitness levels before surgery can also dramatically boost recovery – both reducing the risk of complications and speeding up the time it takes patients to get back on their feet.

Previous studies showed patients who take part in a programme before their operations have the risk of surgical complications halved and leave hospital three days sooner than expected.

Dr Barker adds: ‘There is so much opportunity to improve patients’ preparation for surgery.

‘It is easy for doctors to issue guidelines, rather than thinking how can we help patients at an individual level? That’s what we’re trying to do here.’

‘They recover quicker and have fewer complications’