Leeds has launched a trial of a remote monitoring technology to understand how it can support older adults to live in their own homes and reduce the number of visits to the doctors or hospital.
The Integrated Digital Service, which sits across both the NHS West Yorkshire ICB and Leeds City Council, has joined forces with Luscii to pilot their healthcare product which helps older adults manage their health conditions.
By using the Luscii solution, individuals with conditions such as COPD and diabetes can simply and track their condition while at home, which it’s hoped will lead to improved health and wellbeing.
Leonardo Tantari, Chief Digital Information Officer, Leeds City Council and NHS (Leeds) West Yorkshire ICB said: “Helping patients manage their own health better in the comfort of their home is a priority for the city.
“I’m excited to see the learnings from this innovative pilot and hope it helps to meet the needs of the patients involved.
“It is through collaborative working across a number of organisations that allows for projects of this nature to happen, and I’d like to thank everyone involved in the hard work to date.”
Luscii enables GPs and healthcare professionals to monitor and support patients safely from a distance.
Patients who have agreed to be part of the trial will be provided with the necessary equipment, skills and training to allow them to use the product with confidence at home.
They will be taught how to measure their own blood pressure, weight, and oxygen saturation, and report these findings using their devices back to the GP practice.
Individuals will be encouraged to access real-time insights, receive timely notifications and securely communicate with their GP practice.
The trial has recently commenced, and will run for a number of months with patients who have opted in from Hillfoot Surgery and West Leeds Family Practice in Pudsey and Bellbrooke Surgery in Harehills.
It will be closely monitored and evaluated by a team of experts from Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber who will not be able to see any identifiable patient information.
The team will assess whether it helps to reduce the requirement for patients to visit their GP practice or attend hospital, and if it improves the overall wellbeing of the patients.
Marsha Showman, Senior Clinical Pharmacist at West Leeds PCN said: “We are very excited to be part of this collaborative pilot in Leeds, where we get to test with patients the benefits of using the emerging technology in remote monitoring”
Chris Malone, Managing Director at Luscii, added: “We are incredibly pleased to be working in partnership with Leeds primary care, third party sector, Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber and digital transformation colleagues.
“This programme has a real opportunity to empower patients by investing in tools they can use to stay healthy and manage their long-term conditions from the comfort of their own homes.”
