The NHS will be providing millions of patients with free devices and apps to help maintain conditions such as diabetes and heart disease in an attempt to reduce patient deaths.
The plans have been backed by NHS England’s Chief Executive, Simon Stevens, who believes this is a significant expansion of self-care could reduce the number of patients becoming severely unwell and requiring hospital care. Mr Stevens has said that if patients adopt this technology in to their lives, it could save tens of thousands of lives a year.
The NHS will be making these devices available in England from April 2017 with a panel of experts approving the first 10 devices and apps later on this year. They have been designed to alert a patient to a possible onset of a stroke, heart attack or fatal infection. The device can be strapped to the back of a smart phone and is used in conjunction with a smart phone app.
The NHS has already issued some patients, in Portsmouth, suffering with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease with an app call MyCOPD. The app has been designed to advise the patients when to take their medication and how they can exercise to reduce the risk of them suffering a fatal attack of their illness.
Mr Stevens told 1,000 NHS bosses that “Millions of devices of different types will be funded via this route. For people with diabetes or heart disease, or pregnant women or acutely ill inpatients, there’s a huge opportunity to improve the quality of care and also save money in other parts of the NHS by getting millions of new medtech devices into the hands of doctors, nurses and therapists.”
“Now, at a time when the NHS is under pressure, rather than just running harder to stand still, it’s time to grab with both hands these practical new treatments and technologies.”
Moosa-Duke Solicitors are delighted that the NHS are introducing such innovative techniques to assist in the management of common medical conditions.
If you or a loved one has suffered as a result of poor care from a medical professional, please feel free to call us for a no obligation discussion on 0116 254 7456.
