Vtuls is proud to be partnering in a new trial with a UK-based Digital Innovation Centre that will use our AI and Machine Learning technology to monitor the vital signs of care home residents in order to spot early evidence of health deterioration.
The study is a collaboration with the Digital Innovation Centre in Kent and Medway which is based at the Hawkinge House Care Home, part of the Surrey-based Graham Care Group. It is hoped that the intervention will be successful in improving health and wellbeing outcomes, reducing hospital transmissions and allowing residents and their families to feel safe in the knowledge that their health is being tracked.
Over the course of the 12-week study period, carers in the Proactive Assessment Unit at Hawkinge House Care Home facility, which has capacity for 184 people with nursing needs, will capture the vital signs of residents on a daily basis, logging temperature, respiratory rate, heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen saturation. This data will then be analysed using Machine Learning technology to uncover early signs of deterioration, with staff alerted to any residents whose numbers fall outside the preconfigured safe parameters – so they can provide further care as required.
Vtuls, based in Switzerland, already has evidence of its effectiveness after studies showed that it improves outcomes, increases clinician capacity and reduces costs. However, this will be the first time that it has been used in a care home environment. If successful, it could be rolled out to other care homes throughout the UK.
Dr Jas Saini, CEO of Vtuls, said: “We’re delighted to be working with the Digital Innovation Centre team at Hawkinge House to test the impact of our award-winning technology in the UK care home environment. “The care sector in the UK has been under enormous strain over the last 12 months and there has been an increased interest in technologies that can provide health information during these times when human contact has had to be reduced. By combining remote monitoring, Artificial Intelligence and big data, Vtuls’ technology ensures carers are alerted to health deterioration earlier and without the need for residents to verbalise it, which leads to better outcomes and improved quality of care overall. “In any collaboration, it’s important to have a like-minded partner and, like us, the team at the Digital Innovation Centre is focused on innovation that saves lives and improves people’s health. We can’t wait to get started!” Ernie Graham, owner and founder of Hawkinge House and six other similar services in Surrey and Kent, said: “We’ve always been focused on delivering highly personalised relationship centred care and we’re excited to be working with Vtuls to enable us to deliver on this mission even more effectively. Dr Robert Stewart, Medical Development Director at the Hawkinge House Digital Innovation Centre, said: “The newly developed Digital Innovation Centre shows our commitment to exploring technology that protects the health and improves the care of residents. We’re extremely excited by this pilot and hope that it will be found to be an effective way to improve the health of residents and give them and their families peace-of-mind that they are receiving the best care possible.”