The Isle of Wight NHS Trust Technology Enabled Care (TEC) Team, alongside project management colleagues and the Care Home Support Team, have won an award for the ‘Best COVID-19 Remote Monitoring Solution’ at the 2020 Health Tech Digital Awards.
The award celebrates and recognises the rapid implementation of Telehealth remote monitoring and Attend Anywhere, video consultation software, across the Island. The teams have helped to support the continuation of care for the Island Community throughout the pandemic where people were unable to visit their GP or come into hospital due to the risk of contracting and spreading the virus.
Before the pandemic, the team had been working hard to gradually implement the use of Telehealth and video consultations within various services in the community including local care homes, community nursing, speech and language, respiratory and services.
Following the announcement of a national lockdown the team accelerated the rollout of both technologies to try and reduce the risk of transmission of COVID-19 to the most vulnerable Island residents. All nursing and care homes on the Island were given the Telehealth equipment and training to monitor patients remotely and take part in video calls and reduce the need for clinicians to visit in-person.
Jen Edgington, Head of Nursing and Quality Community Division, said:
“Our TEC team had already made some great progress in supporting the delivery of technology enabled care prior to the pandemic. However since the start of COVID-19, the team have really been able to maximise the use of TEC to support staff and patients”.
All care homes were supplied and trained in Telehealth, a system that allows care home staff to remotely monitor their residents on a range of biometric measures, helping clinicians to identify and treat early signs of deterioration. Following the COVID-19 outbreak, the number of care homes able to access Telehealth increased from just 19 to 80.
Alan, aged 53, was recently discharged from Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth following a life-threatening incident. Alan is now back home on the Island and under the care of the Heart Failure Service where a specialist nurse can monitor his symptoms using video consultations. Alan’s recovery also requires close monitoring of his weight, blood pressure and heart rate to adjust his medication accordingly and this can all been done remotely and without the need for Alan to come to the hospital.
Alan said:
“For a scary episode in my life, being able to see the person you are speaking to from home has helped with my confidence and reassured me that I am going in the right direction.”
What about those older people who live alone and do not have any access to the internet or a mobile phone, the only way they can get any help is to actually SEE a doctor face to face. I guess they don’t get much help now, despite paying in all their lives.
Doctors have let many down badly. Whilst plenty of other workers have had to deal with members of the public, the highly paid doctors have avoided the great unwashed as much as they can, despite having the most and best PPE available to anyone.
This will cause much untold misery for the old, the timid, and those polite decent people who don’t ‘like to make a fuss’ and many of whom will suffer in silence and some die because lazy, over paid doctors prefer (naturally) a safer, easier lifestyle using CV as they ‘reason’.
We dented our saucepans too prematurely I fear.
How does Alan have his weight, blood pressure and heart rate monitored over a computer D.I.Y ??
I was told I needed to take my own blood pressure and email results to doctors
Absolutely ridiculous ! What the hell is happening it’s like all other illnesses have disappeared and only covid left. I’m sick of hearing G.Ps surgeries are open from even adverts on t.v now they are not open. They say people are scared of going surgeries in case they catch covid no they not they can’t get in surgeries because the G.P s are scared of catching it off us.As soon as you eventually get through your told you can’t have a face to face appointment and to do an e consult. Wake up government the NHS is not open unless you have covid !!! How many non covid deaths are they going to allow to happen. Which would you prefer to take your chance with leaving cancer treatment or risk catching covid which you have a better chance of beating anyway ?
There is an Island firm that have created a product called Whzan Health. It has all the equipment including connection to the phone network to allow you to do your stats. So no internet needed. You take your readings and the doctor can see the results on his PC with in seconds. No emailing needed.
This is shocking.
I had a face to face appointment canceled and changed into a video call, I refused it. They have never seen me before so how can they Xray and examine me?
Before anyone tells me the hospitals are over run. During lock down I had to go to the hospital over a broken toe and a blood test and it was empty.
We are being robbed of of NHS and medical care.
I was told lots of senior consultants have taken retirement suddenly in a time of crisis there’s devotion for you !