We support patients on a number of levels including access to their own shared care record via the Personal Health Record, being involved in care planning for themselves and monitoring their own health conditions via remote monitoring in the home. This helps allow patients to stay at home to be cared for.
Remote Monitoring
The majority of people would prefer to stay at home and wherever possible, the NHS supports this approach. We support this by offering a remote monitoring solution - this involves answering questions and taking measurements such as blood pressure on a regular basis. This process of recording observations is similar to a consultation with a doctor or a nurse. The difference is that we support you to do this in the comfort of your own home. For the NHS, this means that the doctors and nurses can observe our conditions closely and more regularly and the information recorded is more frequent and richer, enabling them to improve the care they provide for us.
It was like having them in the room with you, at your side.
Remote monitoring user, Mersey Care
To make these recordings at home, patients either have the option to use their own electronic device (this could be a computer, smartphone, or tablet) or the NHS will offer to supply patients with one. Regardless of the choice of device, they are deliberately very easy to use – in our 20 years’ experience no one has been unable to participate. Using technology in this way is a proven, practical and positive way of helping to care for a lot of people, and some who have complex conditions, may live alone and may be housebound.
Benefits of using our patient carer platform include:
- More effective self-care
- Improved quality of life
- Less travel and disruption for routine check-ups
- Retention of dignity
- Provides peace of mind that our health is being monitored regularly
- Reduced risk of infection by completing readings at home
- Reduced risk of emergency hospital treatment
