Honour for remote telemonitoring service for patients

A ground-breaking project that allows Merseyside stroke patients to have consultations in their own homes has been honoured at a prestigious awards event.

The system uses video conferencing to put patients in touch with their consultants and avoid often time-consuming trips to outpatient departments.

The technology – known as telehealth – has been pioneered by St Helens and Knowsley Health Informatics Service who have used it in specialist stroke clinics.

The team won the Innovation Award, sponsored by the Innovation Agency, at the North West Skills Development Network’s Informatics Awards, part of the Connect 2018 conference to showcase pioneering digital health work.

Christine Walters, Director of Informatics at St Helens and Knowsley Health Informatics Service, said: “We’re delighted to have won and it’s testament to a lot of hard work from the whole team. Introducing the service has brought all sorts of benefits, not least that the patients themselves like it. It gives them a choice in how their care is delivered and spares them the journey into hospital for their appointment.

 “One gentleman told us he preferred not to come to the outpatient department because it prompted unpleasant memories of being ill whenever he went to hospital.

 “For a patient, the technology is very simple to use with everyday devices such as mobile phones, laptops or tablets with cameras, and we’ve found that it gives us a more rounded view of how the patient is progressing in their own environment. It also means we have fewer cases of patients not attending appointments.”

The long-term aim is to roll out the project across the whole of St Helens and Knowsley.

Health Innovation North West Coast also sponsored the Collaboration Award which was won by a team from Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust for a project to deploy an app that identifies so-called ‘stroke mimics’.

The app is used by ambulance staff to assess patients and take them to the appropriate place for treatment. The app identifies patients who have had a non-stroke, or stroke mimic.

Health Innovation North West Coast’s Director of Digital Health Alan Davies said: “It’s fantastic to see the impact these innovations are having on patients’ lives. The St Helens initiative is a piece of work the Innovation Agency itself originally provided funding for and it’s great to see this maturing towards a proven digital service.

“Our region has a growing reputation for being in the vanguard of digital health and the key thing about this project is that it is now ready to be spread across the wider Cheshire and Mersey footprint so more patients can benefit.”

Other award winners were:

Best Improvement in Patient Safety Award ‘Sepsis Improvement Team’, Urgent Care 24

Team of the Year Business Intelligence Teams from NHS Bolton CCG and Bolton NHS Foundation Trust  

Apprentice of the Year Christopher Whyte, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Clinician in Informatics Dr Gurkaran Samra, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Staff Development Award Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

The conference was held at The Grand Hotel, Blackpool, and was opened by Informatics Strategy Group chair, John Glover of Bay Health and Care Partners, and Dave Smith, chair of the conference planning group and Assistant Director for IT, Bridgewater Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. The conference welcomed more than 200 delegates. 

The premium sponsors for 2018 were: Allscripts, Cerner, InterSystems and SystemC and Graphnet Care Alliance.

The Informatics Awards were sponsored by: the Innovation Agency, Health Innovation Manchester, Digital Health, Estio Training and NW Skills Development Network.