We were contacted by Slough Borough Council towards the end of 2020 to discuss the possibility of implementing a Diabetes Project to monitor patients remotely from their homes, and to provide information and results to assist and improve their care.
Due to COVID19 restrictions and the final development of our new software platform, HealthPod, we were able to plan the deployment and create a bespoke set of protocols in great detail over the following few months. Together we produced a pilot solution which was introduced in April 2021.
Equipment was sent to 20 diabetes patients over 4 primary care network (PCN) areas, who had each selected 5 patients to take part in the 3 month pilot. The equipment included an Android tablet which held the software, a blood pressure cuff, scales and a glucometer. The protocols on the tablet consisted of a daily test and a weekly test. Patients were instructed to complete the daily test each day to monitor their blood glucose levels, and were also asked to complete the weekly test which would give information surrounding changes in diet and exercise, their blood pressure reading, and the opportunity to message their GP with any concerns they may have.
Working with clinicians from across the PCN areas, we also created specific alert thresholds which would raise an alert if any results or responses were submitted outside of the thresholds, i.e. – the patient’s blood glucose was above 10mmol /l or below 4mmol/l, or their systolic blood pressure was above 150. These alerts would be sent via email to nominated clinicians within each PCN, who could then make decisions based on their findings.
The project was overseen by our in-house Registered Nurse - Denise Gath, who contacted the patients on a weekly basis to discuss their wellbeing and any issues they were having. She also assists the clinicians with the monitoring of the alerts and also the general results and responses the patients were submitting. This proved invaluable, as when reviewing a particular patient’s blood pressure readings, Denise identified steady and consistent rise in the results which were heading towards concerning levels. She proceeded to contact the patient’s GP, and following a face-to-face consultation, the patient is now receiving antihypertensive medication which has resulted in a decrease in blood pressure.
This success, along with fantastic feedback from other patients, has led to Slough Borough Council now working alongside the CCG and wider ICS area to not only continue the monitoring of the initial 20 patients, but also expand to help care for many other patients across their area.
For more information, or to arrange a demonstration of our solutions, please contact our Business Development Manager – Barrie Holding, barrie.holding@microtech-group.co.uk
