DIY heart monitor rolled out to cut hospital waiting lists
The device looks like a small patch which is stuck to the skin, while traditional devices see patients hooked up to numerous wires and monitors.
After the new tool is worn for a few days, patients can post the device back – which will cut out the need for appointments to fit and remove the equipment.
The information from the monitor is then assessed using an artificial intelligence (AI) tool, Cardiologs, which produces a report which is then assessed by either a physiologist or a doctor.
It can be used to investigate conditions include atrial fibrillation, tachycardia or heart blocks.
Frimley Health NHS Foundation Trust is the first hospital in the country to roll out the device, with hopes that the device will soon be used across other NHS trusts.
The Trust said it will still use traditional devices, known as Holter monitors, on some patients who are in hospital, but many of those who are outside of hospital will be able to access the new ePatch, which is made by Philips, to use in the comfort of their own homes.
It has estimated that the use of the patches will double its productivity levels for diagnosing heart rhythm problems.
Dr Iain Sim, consultant cardiac electrophysiologist, told the PA news agency: 'The purpose of the device is to record the heart rhythm – to collect electrical signals from the heart – and to try to understand a bit about the patient and what they are experiencing and whether that can be explained by their heart rhythm.
'This smaller device allows us to measure at the moment up to 10 days
'The benefits of it are that it is smaller and more convenient, rather than different wires all over the place.
'We are able to put them on faster and we're able to reduce our turnaround times for reports and to get results back to patients faster.'
He said that traditional Holter monitors are attached by trained physiologists but there is a shortage of these staff members at present.
'Because these are more straightforward, we've got specialist nurses who can be quite easily trained to apply them,' he added.
Suzanne Jordan, associate director for medicine at Frimley Health, said the patches can even be sent out to patients for them to attach themselves.
The feedback from the monitors are developed into reports for medics which are categorised in a traffic light system, she said.
'Green is perfectly fine – within normal limits; amber may need a clinician to review the report; red means potentially significant pauses or arrhythmia that need kind of an urgent review,' she said.
'It's been really positive – staff and patients really like it.
'We can post the patches to patients – there's explicit instructions there in terms of how to put it on, what to do if there's a problem, and also just to send it back as well.
'Once it comes back, it gets downloaded and the turnaround times are great.'
Ms Jordan added: 'If you think of the bigger picture, it means that we're going to be able to manage our patients quickly.
'We've been running clinics by seeing maybe 30 patients in one day, whereas before, we were probably seeing 14 maximum – so we've kind of doubled our productivity.
Asked about the conditions which will be monitored with the devices, Dr Sim added: 'Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a really important and common condition that we pick up with these devices, and we're increasingly looking at whether we can use them to help detect AF that's not symptomatic, and whether people are increased risk of stroke that we don't know about.
'The other conditions would relate to other forms of types of tachycardia, so fast heart rates, or episodes of very slow heart rates, such as heart blocks of different degrees, where patients may have palpitations or they may have fainting or syncope.
'So it allows us to monitor all of those heart rhythms.'
On the use of AI to review the data from the monitors, he added: 'I think it's natural for everyone to be concerned whenever you put the term 'AI' into something, but these are pretty well tested algorithms that still have human oversight.'
Mark Leftwich, managing director for Philips UK and Ireland, said: 'We're really excited to be working with Frimley Health to make heart monitoring easier and more comfortable for patients.
'Studies show Philips ePatch can spot up to 2.5 times more clinically relevant heart rhythm issues than the traditional Holter monitors – so not only is it more comfortable to wear, it can actually help catch issues that might have been missed before.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
8 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Care home workers ‘almost twice as likely to be in poverty as average UK worker'
Earlier this month, following the launch of the Government's 10-year health plan focused on the NHS, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would 'shortly be setting out how we will deliver the first ever fair pay agreements for the care workforce, building a real social care progression'. The adult social care sector has long faced problems with staff retention and recruitment, with an estimated 131,000 vacancies on any given day. No date has yet been announced for details to be given on the Fair Pay Agreement as part of the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords. It is expected the Government will confirm how much funding will be available to support it and launch a consultation at some point later this year into how it should work. The spending review published last month stated there would be an increase of more than £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26. But the Health Foundation has estimated this might not be enough to both fund the sector more generally to meet rising demand for social care and to ensure better pay for workers. The charity estimated an extra £3.4 billion would be necessary just to meet demand for publicly-funded social care in England in 2028/29, while increasing pay for the care workforce to at least NHS band three levels could cost a further £2.3 billion. Current band three annual salaries for full-time workers in roles such as emergency care assistants and occupational therapy support in the NHS are between £24,937 and £26,598. Such an increase could lead to a 6.6% rise on average in household income for care home staff and their families, leading to 'a modest but important reduction in poverty', the charity said. For the poorest fifth of care home staff and their families, household income could rise by 14.7%, it added. According to Health Foundation analysis of national data from 2021/22 to 2023/24, someone working in a care home in the UK is almost twice as likely to live in poverty as the average UK worker, while children in those families are three times more likely to be materially deprived as those in the average working household. The analysis, which used data from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and the Family Resources Survey (FRS), found that over the three-year period, care home workers were twice as likely to live in a food-insecure household as the average UK worker and twice as likely to have used a food bank in the past year compared with other workers. While 2.9% of workers in residential care had used a food bank, this compared with 1.5% of all workers. The charity said its findings 'likely underestimate poverty rates for the whole care workforce' as they focused their research on staff in care homes rather than those looking after people in their own homes, where the organisation said 'problems with insecure employment and underpayment are even greater'. The report states that, given its estimates of how much funding is needed to meet demand in the sector and provide better pay, the current £4 billion announced by Government risks 'leaving local authorities to choose between providing people with the care they need and funding much needed wage rises for the care workforce'. Lucinda Allen, policy fellow at the foundation, said while social care is 'vital and fulfilling work', it has 'long been underpaid and undervalued'. She added: 'Around one in every 20 working people in England is employed in social care. Enhancing pay and working conditions in the care sector could be an important part of the Government's growth agenda, improve people's lives, and help fill the 131,000 social care vacancies. 'The Government must deliver on its promise of fair pay for care workers, alongside wider improvements to our care system.' The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) urged the Government to swiftly introduce a fair pay agreement, after the report highlighted 'the urgent need to improve pay and conditions for care workers'. RCN England executive director Patricia Marquis said: 'It is a sad state of affairs that such a vital workforce is so poorly valued and little wonder that there are so many vacancies. When care homes cannot recruit enough staff it leaves too many without access to the care they deserve. 'Ministers must not delay in introducing a fair pay agreement and a new body to improve conditions for care workers, as well as rooting out exploitation. Failure to do so will only undermine ambitions to move care into the community and deepen a social care workforce crisis that harms the vulnerable.' Unison general secretary Christina McAnea described it as a 'national scandal those looking after some of the most vulnerable are more likely to be on poverty pay and struggling to make ends meet'. She added: 'By finding the funding for a fair pay agreement that should see care workers rewarded properly, the Government will be showing it's serious about transforming the crisis-ridden sector. 'Decent wages have to be at the heart of the promised national care service the country needs so desperately.' A Government spokesperson said: 'Care workers play a vital role in society caring for our most vulnerable and deserve to be paid properly for their hard work. 'That's why we've launched the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for carers, increased the National Living Wage – worth £1,400 more a year for full-time workers – and delivered the biggest ever rise in the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold. 'We have also launched an independent review into social care to build a National Care Service, which will also look at how we can improve working conditions and retention.' The Casey Commission, launched earlier this year, aims to set out a plan to implement a national care service, but social care leaders have previously raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some recommended reforms to be introduced.
Daily Mail
8 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: Five patient deaths were linked to junior doctors' strikes
Junior doctor strikes have resulted in the deaths of five patients as NHS leaders warn even 'more lives could be put at risk' during next week's five-day full walkout. An audit shows strikes by the BMA in 2023 and 2024 were raised in five Prevention of Future Death Reports issued by coroners. Among these was the case of Daphne Austin, 71, whose passing from sepsis was found to be the result of neglect and 'more likely than not because of industrial action by junior doctors'. As reported by The Times, Ms Austin was one of 25 patients under the care of a single consultant at Cumberland Infirmary on the day of the strike in June 2023 - which meant she received 'no medical input' or vital blood testing, an inquest heard. Another reported death was that of John Doyle, 60, who passed away of multi-organ failure in Warwickshire during the junior doctors' strike in December 2023. NHS England was warned by the coroner senior doctors were 'unable to maintain a consistent overview of patients' due to additional workload during strikes. William Hare, 71, died in Essex in January 2024 amid disruption to 'normal service' during strikes which led to delays in care and neglect. A number of other patients are likely to have died or come to harm as a result of delays caused by 44 previous days of strikes by BMA junior doctors, health leaders warned. Strikes from March 2023 to July 2024 led to the cancellation of 1.5million appointments and operations, including more than 6,500 cancer surgeries. Health secretary Wes Streeting will be meeting BMA leaders in Whitehall on Thursday afternoon in a last ditch attempt to get them to call off next week's strikes. Mr Streeting has insisted he has no plans of offering more money but is willing to reform working conditions and training. According to a Whitehall source, strikes in the health service 'have the most serious consequences'. The source added: 'The fact that the BMA rushed into strike action, even after a 28.9 per cent pay rise, and that they are telling striking resident doctors not to inform their employers to allow hospitals to plan, shows a unfathomable disregard for the wellbeing of patients.' Up to 50,000 junior doctors - who now go by the name resident doctors - will strike for five days from 7am on Julye 2 in pursuit of a 29 per cent pay rise. Hospitals may rack up a bill of £4,000 for extra shifts that cover striking junior colleagues in urgent care. But the BMA said: 'Strikes need not happen next week if the government comes forward with a plan to restore doctors' pay and rebuild the value of our workforce.' 'Planning by NHS England and hospitals is essential to keep urgent and emergency care safe during strike action and this requires NHS England to work differently; for example, we expect they are now working quickly with hospitals to plan changes to non-urgent care so urgent and emergency services can be maintained on strike days. There should be no excuse for failing to plan for such events. 'Successive rounds of action have shown that most hospital trusts run safe services, with senior doctors covering striking doctors, and several studies and analyses of hospital data that suggest mortality rates for patients admitted to hospital are not significantly different on strike days.' Daniel Elkeles, the chief executive of NHS Providers said: 'It's no surprise that some coroners found that delays led to some deaths that would have been prevented had treatment gone ahead as planned. 'That's why we say firmly that these strikes are damaging, disruptive, costly and unfair to patients whose care has to be postponed at short notice, which can have harmful effects on their health and conditions, both physical and mental. That's why we hope very much that negotiations will lead to this strike being called off.'
Rhyl Journal
38 minutes ago
- Rhyl Journal
Care home workers ‘almost twice as likely to be in poverty as average UK worker'
Earlier this month, following the launch of the Government's 10-year health plan focused on the NHS, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he would 'shortly be setting out how we will deliver the first ever fair pay agreements for the care workforce, building a real social care progression'. The adult social care sector has long faced problems with staff retention and recruitment, with an estimated 131,000 vacancies on any given day. No date has yet been announced for details to be given on the Fair Pay Agreement as part of the Employment Rights Bill, which is currently making its way through the House of Lords. It is expected the Government will confirm how much funding will be available to support it and launch a consultation at some point later this year into how it should work. The spending review published last month stated there would be an increase of more than £4 billion of funding available for adult social care in 2028-29, compared with 2025-26. But the Health Foundation has estimated this might not be enough to both fund the sector more generally to meet rising demand for social care and to ensure better pay for workers. The charity estimated an extra £3.4 billion would be necessary just to meet demand for publicly-funded social care in England in 2028/29, while increasing pay for the care workforce to at least NHS band three levels could cost a further £2.3 billion. Current band three annual salaries for full-time workers in roles such as emergency care assistants and occupational therapy support in the NHS are between £24,937 and £26,598. Such an increase could lead to a 6.6% rise on average in household income for care home staff and their families, leading to 'a modest but important reduction in poverty', the charity said. For the poorest fifth of care home staff and their families, household income could rise by 14.7%, it added. According to Health Foundation analysis of national data from 2021/22 to 2023/24, someone working in a care home in the UK is almost twice as likely to live in poverty as the average UK worker, while children in those families are three times more likely to be materially deprived as those in the average working household. The analysis, which used data from the Households Below Average Income (HBAI) and the Family Resources Survey (FRS), found that over the three-year period, care home workers were twice as likely to live in a food-insecure household as the average UK worker and twice as likely to have used a food bank in the past year compared with other workers. While 2.9% of workers in residential care had used a food bank, this compared with 1.5% of all workers. The charity said its findings 'likely underestimate poverty rates for the whole care workforce' as they focused their research on staff in care homes rather than those looking after people in their own homes, where the organisation said 'problems with insecure employment and underpayment are even greater'. The report states that, given its estimates of how much funding is needed to meet demand in the sector and provide better pay, the current £4 billion announced by Government risks 'leaving local authorities to choose between providing people with the care they need and funding much needed wage rises for the care workforce'. Lucinda Allen, policy fellow at the foundation, said while social care is 'vital and fulfilling work', it has 'long been underpaid and undervalued'. She added: 'Around one in every 20 working people in England is employed in social care. Enhancing pay and working conditions in the care sector could be an important part of the Government's growth agenda, improve people's lives, and help fill the 131,000 social care vacancies. 'The Government must deliver on its promise of fair pay for care workers, alongside wider improvements to our care system.' The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) urged the Government to swiftly introduce a fair pay agreement, after the report highlighted 'the urgent need to improve pay and conditions for care workers'. RCN England executive director Patricia Marquis said: 'It is a sad state of affairs that such a vital workforce is so poorly valued and little wonder that there are so many vacancies. When care homes cannot recruit enough staff it leaves too many without access to the care they deserve. 'Ministers must not delay in introducing a fair pay agreement and a new body to improve conditions for care workers, as well as rooting out exploitation. Failure to do so will only undermine ambitions to move care into the community and deepen a social care workforce crisis that harms the vulnerable.' Unison general secretary Christina McAnea described it as a 'national scandal those looking after some of the most vulnerable are more likely to be on poverty pay and struggling to make ends meet'. She added: 'By finding the funding for a fair pay agreement that should see care workers rewarded properly, the Government will be showing it's serious about transforming the crisis-ridden sector. 'Decent wages have to be at the heart of the promised national care service the country needs so desperately.' A Government spokesperson said: 'Care workers play a vital role in society caring for our most vulnerable and deserve to be paid properly for their hard work. 'That's why we've launched the first ever Fair Pay Agreement for carers, increased the National Living Wage – worth £1,400 more a year for full-time workers – and delivered the biggest ever rise in the Carer's Allowance earnings threshold. 'We have also launched an independent review into social care to build a National Care Service, which will also look at how we can improve working conditions and retention.' The Casey Commission, launched earlier this year, aims to set out a plan to implement a national care service, but social care leaders have previously raised concerns over the potential timeline of 2036 for some recommended reforms to be introduced.
