Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust (MPFT) has avoided an estimated 1,300 hospital admissions over the past 12 months by using proactive home monitoring to identify early signs of deterioration before some of its most vulnerable patients reach crisis point.
The results come as the NHS accelerates its shift towards neighbourhood health services, with the Government’s recently published NHS 10 Year Health Plan placing prevention, digital innovation and community-based care at the heart of the future health service. The plan calls for care to move from hospitals into communities, from analogue to digital services and from treating sickness to preventing ill health.
The figures come from the Trust’s High Intensity Team, which supports people living with multiple long-term conditions who are at increased risk of emergency hospital admission. Over the past year, the service has used behavioural insights from MySense’s passive home monitoring sensors to help clinicians identify subtle changes in patients’ health and wellbeing before they develop into a crisis.
The programme supported 105 high-risk patients living independently in the community. By enabling earlier intervention, it is estimated to have avoided 1,300 hospital admissions during the 12-month period. Local analysis also suggests this equates to around £728,352 in avoided NHS bed utilisation costs, based on the national average NHS bed cost per day.
Rather than relying on patients to report symptoms or interact with technology, discreet sensors installed throughout the home build up an understanding of each person’s normal daily routine. The system identifies meaningful changes in areas such as movement, sleep, bathroom usage and environmental conditions, allowing clinical teams to investigate potential issues much earlier.
The approach has also provided reassurance for families supporting loved ones to remain independent at home.
Jim, who uses MySense at home explained:
“After being in hospital for a lengthy period MySense installed their sensor system. This gives me confidence that my daughter can monitor my daily activities to ensure any changes can be identified. At the age of 87, and living alone, this gives me extra security. They communicate with me on a regular basis ensure things work smoothly.”
A spokesperson from the High Intensity Team at Midlands Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust, said:
“The High Intensity Team at MPFT are able to readily identify any changes in our patients’ normal behaviour as part of our routine care management. These insights have helped us deliver significant outcomes which have benefitted the team and, most importantly, our patients, including avoiding 1,300 hospital admissions over the last 12 months across 105 patients.”
MPFT has been working with MySense since 2021, integrating passive home monitoring into its High Intensity Team to provide clinicians with additional insight into patients’ day-to-day wellbeing. The technology supports existing clinical decision-making by highlighting meaningful changes in routine that may indicate deteriorating health, enabling teams to prioritise early intervention where appropriate.
Paul Slater, Chief Executive Officer at MySense, said:
“It’s a privilege to work alongside MPFT as the Trust has continued to develop innovative approaches to supporting patients across a range of services. Seeing how passive remote monitoring has helped the High Intensity Team identify earlier signs of deterioration and intervene sooner is a great example of what can be achieved.”
“The outcomes achieved over the past year reflect the expertise and dedication of the High Intensity Team and demonstrate what can be achieved when clinicians have better visibility of changes in a patient’s everyday routine, enabling earlier intervention and more personalised support.
“The NHS’s 10 Year Health Plan sets out a clear ambition to deliver more preventative, digitally enabled care closer to home. We hope the lessons from this collaboration will help other NHS organisations explore how technology can support clinical teams, improve patient outcomes and reduce avoidable hospital admissions while helping more people to live independently for longer.”
The estimated outcomes are based on local analysis and reflect the combined impact of passive home monitoring alongside the wider clinical interventions and care delivered by the MPFT High Intensity Team. Estimated bed utilisation savings have been calculated using the national average NHS bed cost per day.
