Residents across 46 care homes in South East London are first in line to access innovative diagnostic technology from Arc Health (www.archealth.io), enabling GPs to remotely perform a clinical examination during a video call.
The solution, funded and supported by NHSX as part of the National Innovation Collaborative, will transform the way care home residents across Bromley and Lambeth access their GP.
Lord Bethell, Minister for Innovation, said: “The pandemic has changed the way patients access healthcare and innovative technology is helping us deliver care to the most vulnerable in the safest and most effective way.
“Residents at these care homes will benefit from this high quality, enhanced remote monitoring, making it faster and easier for clinicians to effectively examine residents and ensuring any problems are picked up and treated rapidly.”
Tara Donnelly, Chief Digital Officer, NHSX, said: “Through the pandemic at NHSX, we have been helping trial new technology that allows clinicians to monitor and assess patients’ conditions remotely.
“As part of our Innovation Collaborative, NHSX is delighted to be working in partnership with innovators and teams that are transforming care for thousands of people.
“Patients in South East London will now get remote monitoring that goes a step further, making it quicker and easier for doctors to monitor their chest and heart conditions at home.”
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, care homes across the country have adopted ‘virtual ward rounds’ and video consultations have become an essential tool for clinicians.
Dr Zubair Ahmed, Chief Executive at Arc Health, said: “It is more important than ever to support care home residents by offering timely access to gold-standard clinical care. We’re looking forward to working with South East London CCG, and the Lambeth Together and One Bromley borough health and care partnerships, to enable their care home residents to access high quality, timely care at home.”
