Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital welcomes 100th patient onto its cardiac surgery telehealth research trial
30 August 2023
Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital welcomes 100th patient onto its cardiac surgery telehealth research trial.
The Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital Research Team has recruited its 100th patient onto its Telehealth in Cardiac Surgery (TiCS) research trial. The project started in April 2023 and is using remote patient monitoring to pick up on deteriorations in patients waiting for cardiac surgery. The project is helping alleviate continuing pressures placed on the NHS, as clinicians can monitor patients waiting for surgery, picking up early changes in the patient’s condition and allowing operations to be brought forward if needed.
The nationally funded cardiac surgery telehealth project is led by heart surgeon Bil Kirmani and is supported by Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust and remote monitoring providers Docobo.
An initial pilot study showed that monitoring patients at home while they were waiting for an operation allowed surgeons to react quickly to worsening symptoms. The TiCS trial is a world-first study to demonstrate the benefits of this technology, comparing it to the current standard of care.
Once the trial concludes early next year, doctors will know if remote monitoring can prevent serious deteriorations or hasten recovery by better preparing patients for their operation.
Mr Kirmani said: “Patients waiting for heart surgery are currently facing significant delays on the waiting list while the country recovers from COVID backlogs. Telehealth remote monitoring provides patients and surgeons some reassurance that these delays can be navigated safely. We hope to prove that not only can we prevent harm, but by using the time productively, we can benefit patients by helping to get them fit for surgery.”
Doctor Rosie Kaur, Deputy Chief Officer for Physical Health at Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, said “This has been an exciting piece of work that demonstrates the value of Telehealth remote monitoring, which is supporting and empowering patients on the cardiac surgery waiting list. In addition, remote monitoring enables clinicians to act quickly when a patient’s health is deteriorating.”
In order to fully understand the benefits of remote monitoring, Liverpool Heart and Chest are running a Randomised Controlled Trial. This type of research randomly allocates patients to either remote monitoring or to usual care without monitoring. This will allow a head-to-head comparison of the technology to see if it provides benefits that can’t be offered using traditional reviews. (NB at present, the trial is the only way to have remote monitoring on the waiting list).
For patients who are allocated to receive telehealth, the programme has two main parts – pre-habilitation and symptom monitoring.
Symptom monitoring
- Once a patient has been seen in the clinic and put on a cardiac surgery waiting list, they can be offered remote monitoring.
- Patients will be loaned equipment such as blood pressure and oxygen monitors to take readings at home
- These readings are reviewed daily at the Clinical Hub at Mersey Care
- Specialist nurses assess information and can advise the patient if they need to see their GP, attend hospital or let the patient’s surgeon know of any important changes
- Any major changes can allow the surgeon to bring forward the operation, potentially avoiding the need for A&E visits
Pre-habilitation
- The cardiac remote monitoring programme also gives patients advice on being fit for surgery such as diet and exercise
- There is also extra support for diabetes control, improving breathing including stopping smoking, and psychological preparation for surgery
“Patients waiting for heart surgery are currently facing significant delays on the waiting list while the country recovers from COVID backlogs. Telehealth remote monitoring provides patients and surgeons some reassurance that these delays can be navigated safely. We hope to prove that not only can we prevent harm, but by using the time productively, we can benefit patients by helping to get them fit for surgery.” Bil Kirmani, LHCHDirector, ABC Limited
