Implementing Docobo Telehealth to support residents and staff in care homes
The Warwickshire North (WN) Docobo Telehealth in Care Homes Project was initiated to support the Virtual Ward Round initiative already underway. Care Homes were offered the ability to capture health metrics, blood pressure, pulse, SaO2 and temperature, along with specifically designed question sets for their residents.
Why change was needed
People can be monitored for their health needs in their own homes or care homes. People living in care homes will have access to enhanced primary care and specialist services and maintain their independence as far as possible by reducing, delaying, or preventing the need for additional health and social care services.
Staff working in care homes feel at the heart of an integrated team that spans primary, community, mental health, and specialist care, as well as social care services and the voluntary sector.
This allows for:
- Improved Care Home management of residents
- Reduced GP consultations in care homes
- Reduced conveyances to hospital
- Reduced contacts with NHS 111 service
- Reduced attendances to A&E and reduced admissions for care home residents
- Reduced phone calls to iSPA from Care Homes
What we did
The Warwickshire North (WN) Docobo Telehealth in Care Homes Project was initiated to support the Virtual Ward Round initiative already underway. Care Homes were offered the ability to capture health metrics, blood pressure, pulse, SaO2 and temperature, along with specifically designed question sets for their residents.
This information is captured and translated into a dashboard by the Docobo Telehealth system, which in turn is monitored by South Warwickshire NHS Foundation Trust Out of Hospital Integrated Single Point of Access Care Coordination team.
The initial two usages introduced were:
- Monthly resident review. This feeds into and is managed by the Place-Based Team responsible for managing the Care Homes Virtual Ward Round. GPs have access to the information via a call-out within EMIS.
- Deteriorating Resident. This question set generates an email alert to the Care Coordination team, who have two hours within which to call the Care Home to triage the resident, give support, initiate remedial action and arrange an Out of Hospital Urgent Response visit if required.
The Docobo WN rollout is now complete with 44 homes active.
Evaluation has shown high patient experience and satisfaction rates, as well as a time saving of approximately 30 hours per week per GP.
What's next?
Continuing to support care homes and review and encourage usage of the Docobo Resident Unwell, Monthly Wellness Check and Virtual Ward Round use cases and questions sets across the 44 care homes live across WN.
Seven end of life patients currently being piloted on Docobo in partnership with Mary Ann Evans Hospice to see if it is able to improve patients quality of life at the palliative stage.