A system to support remote monitoring and electronic referrals into community health and primary care services.
Durham County Council is contacting all GP surgeries to invite them to participate in Warm and Healthy Homes.
County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust have been working with the local council to support local care homes with technology adoption to facilitate integration with the NHS.
Care homes need to maximise staff capacity, create efficiencies and connect with health services, whilst also reducing the risk of passing on infection.
To find a digital solution to integrate between social care and health care services, to enable quicker referrals and better manage resources.
Health Call Digital Care Home was rolled out as a system to support electronic referrals into community health and primary care services but also remote monitoring of residents. Furthermore, it permits the creation and sharing of baseline observations to develop a record of what is ‘normal’ for each resident and also identify signs of deterioration. Resident information is then pulled through to the electronic patient record. Subsequent developments have included the addition of wound care and undernutrition services for residents. The ability to use the system for video consultation is being explored as well
“Before Health Call Digital Care Homes, I would have had to call his GP, or send him to hospital. This way, he was kept at home, where he and his family wanted him to be.”
- Integration with EPR
- Online referral platform and tablet
- Video consultations
- Create baseline observations to record what is normal for patients
- Secure sharing of remote monitoring information
- Remote health support.
- Reduced time for care staff on the phone freeing up capacity to spend with people
- More effective and efficient use of resources
- Creation of baseline data enables staff to spot deterioration early to enable early intervention/treatment.
- Data from observations can trigger referrals when they reach certain points