People using healthcare services are set to benefit from a new joint project evaluating remote monitoring
Regional health research and innovation partners the NIHR Applied Research Collaboration East of England (NIHR ARC EoE) and Eastern AHSN (Academic Health Science Network) have been awarded £274,550 funding for an NHS Insights Prioritisation Programme project (NIPP), from 1 November 2021.
Virtual wards and remote care solutions have developed rapidly during the Covid-19 pandemic to help clinicians monitor patient health at home and reduce the need for hospital visits. This project will assess the impact of remote monitoring technology on health services and patients to ensure that people with a wide range of conditions can be supported at home and in the community.
Dr Jennifer Lynch, Senior Research Fellow and project lead at the NIHR ARC EoE is leading the qualitative research.
“We aim to develop practical and accessible guidance for healthcare organisations and patients to use remote monitoring solutions and identify who needs them most. Assessing health inequalities is a key part of this work, to ensure everyone can access remote care tools at the right time and receive appropriate support for their condition.”
Dr Jennifer Lynch, NIHR ARC EoE project lead
Remote monitoring systems are being reviewed across four NHS sites to explore how they support care pathways for hip/knee replacements with virtual wards, and help people to manage heart palpitations and chronic diseases, including respiratory illnesses and asthma.
“Remote monitoring allows people to better manage their long-term conditions whilst giving clinicians more insight into a patient’s health, often in real-time. This project will help us identify and share best practice to ensure we make the best possible use of this technology for patients."
Sophie Castle-Clarke, Eastern AHSN lead and Principal Advisor
This nationally funded project draws together partners from four Integrated Care Systems (ICS) across three Academic Health Science Network boundaries working with a wide range of stakeholders across healthcare settings including medical directors, transformation and operational managers, data and informatics leads and research teams. The East of England Citizens’ Senate was consulted on how to involve patients and the public in the project, and a Lived Experience Advisory Panel will recruit patient and carer representatives to help steer it.
The NHS Insights Prioritisation Programme was established by the NHS Accelerated Access Collaborative and the NIHR to accelerate the evaluation and implementation of innovation that supports post-pandemic ways of working, builds service resilience and delivers benefits to patients.
For more information visit the project webpage.