Virtual Ward team trial new remote monitoring technology

This week, Whittington Health’s Virtual Ward team will trial a new remote monitoring device developed by Current Health.

The device, strapped to a patient’s arm, will send real time data insights on a patient’s vital signs to their dedicated consultant at Whittington Hospital via a wireless biosensor that has the same accuracy of an Intensive Care Unit monitor.

Consultants will be able to access important data such as a patient’s temperature, respiration rate, and pulse through an online portal, which will activate an alert at the first sign of deterioration. In-home connectivity and an electronic tablet can be supplied for those who do not have WIFI or a smart device at home.

The 12-week trial will be tested on patients living with heart failure and frailty who are being treated for their condition at home, having been ‘admitted’ to Whittington Health’s Virtual Ward.

The Virtual Ward cares for patients who would otherwise be admitted to hospital by providing high acuity care in the patients' own home. The service has helped to keep thousands of hospital beds free for those who need them most.

“Every patient wants to be in the comfort of their own place,” says Wendy Paul-Garricks, Transformation Project Manager Virtual Wards, at  Whittington Health.

 

“There are lots of benefits to being treated at home. It reduces the risk of hospital acquired infection, it reduces anxiety in the patient, and they don’t have to worry about getting to and from appointments.

“Patients also get a better night’s sleep when they are at home, and can be around their family - all while we are monitoring the patient on a continuous feed from the hospital.”

The new technology will not replace the Virtual Ward’s existing mix of clinically led assessment methods which include telephone and video calls with patients and face-to-face assessments with healthcare teams.

Over the past ten years, over 20,000 people across North Central London have been safely cared for at home by Whittington Health NHS Trust’s ‘Virtual Ward’. This winter, the Virtual Ward will be five times its regular size to help care for the large number of unwell people who currently need care and treatment, while keeping hospital beds available for patients who really need them.  Innovative technology such as this help to provide higher quality, safer and more patient centred solutions to the challenges the NHS is currently facing.