Integrated Digital Service launches remote tech trial in Leeds

The Integrated Digital Service has teamed up with Luscii for a remote technology trial to help reduce the number of GP and hospital appointments for people living at home with long-term conditions.

The service sits across the Leeds City Council and NHS (Leeds) West Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. This trial has been launched to help the organisation understand how it can support older adults to live in their own homes, while also minimising the number of healthcare appointments they need.

The Luscii healthcare product has recently been deployed to a number of patients who have opted in from Hillfoot Surgery and West Leeds Family Practice in Pudsey, and Belbrooke Surgery in Harehills. It enables GPs and healthcare professionals to monitor and support patients remotely.

Patients on the Integrated Digital Service trial have been given the necessary equipment and training to allow them to use the products at home. This will enable them to measure their own blood pressure, weight and oxygen saturation levels. They can then use the devices to report the findings to their GPs.

Marsha Showman, senior clinical pharmacist at West Leeds PCN said: “We are very excited to be part of this collaborative pilot in Leeds, where we get to test with patients the benefits of using the emerging technology in remote monitoring. Allowing patients to measure and record key information in the comfort of their own home. Saving them time in coming into the GP surgery and hopefully preventing them from attending hospital because they are able to understand and manage their symptoms better.

“We will be able to monitor our patients safely from a distance, if one of their measurements doesn’t look quite right we will take the appropriate action. We look forward to sharing our learnings and journey with colleagues who are interested in remote monitoring.”

The trial will be evaluated by a team of experts from Health Innovation Yorkshire and Humber, who will determine if it helps to reduce the requirement for patients to attend hospital or a GP appointment, as well as improve their overall wellbeing.

Chris Malone, managing director at Luscii, said: “This programme has a real opportunity to empower patients by investing in tools they can use to stay healthy and manage their long-term conditions from the comfort of their own homes.

“It will also help practices streamline access to a more proactive, personalised approach to care and help reduce pressure on their systems; ultimately helping support the access to primary care recovery plans.”

In 2021 Luscii teamed up with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust in order to provide heart failure patients with the ability to self-monitor their vital statistics at home.