How remote monitoring is transforming support at Edwina Place
Edwina Place, a Choice Care residential home, has implemented a remote monitoring solution to enhance the health and wellbeing of the people they support.
Edwina Place offers care and support for up to 12 people with mental health needs, primarily with support needs such as Bipolar disorder, Schizophrenia and personality disorders. Choice Care is a leading specialist care provider for people with learning disabilities, autism, mental health conditions and associated needs, supporting over 900 people across services in England and Wales. The organisation has a technology focus with an aim to use technology to increase the independence of people we support and enable colleagues deliver excellent care.
Docobo remote monitoring technology from Graphnet empowers people to take an active role in their health, supporting self-care and improving wellbeing and enabling healthcare providers to deliver care outside of clinical settings, enhancing people’s quality of life. The introduction of remote monitoring at Edwina Place has delivered significant benefits for both the people we support and colleagues.
Edwina Place implemented remote monitoring, which meant giving colleagues a tablet with the Docobo app in order to record and track peoples’ health data digitally.
The solution enables regular monitoring of vital signs – including blood pressure and temperature, which are then uploaded to the secure central system and reviewed by the ICB’s Digital Hub. The ‘Resident of the Day’ initiative involves recording residents’ vital signs and symptoms onto a tablet on a regular basis – and means that the people we support can be checked on a regular basis to capture baseline health conditions.
Once the data is uploaded, any potential issues will be flagged up to the Digital Hub. It also means that if someone is unwell – colleagues at Edwina Place can input data into the system or call the Digital Hub and they will receive a swift response.
Now, instead of relying on calling 111, colleagues input health data into the system, which is reviewed by nurses. Nurses provide immediate feedback and, when necessary, arrange GP consultations.
Blood pressure, temperature, and other vital signs are systematically recorded, reducing errors and ensuring nothing is lost in paperwork.
Ewa, Registered Manager of Edwina Place, says: ‘As the people we support do not like to be checked too often, the Resident of the Month works really well for them. It also gives us baseline readings that clinicians can compare with the readings we are concerned about.’
Benefits of deploying remote monitoring
The introduction of remote monitoring has demonstrated benefits to both the people we support and colleagues at Edwina Place.
Response times have improved with immediate feedback and streamlined access to nurses and medical professionals, while baseline health data helps detect changes early, allowing preventive measures before conditions escalate. The system has reduced unnecessary 111 calls, freeing up resources and reducing stress on both colleagues and the people we support.
Digital record-keeping has replaced paperwork, ensuring seamless access to health history and minimising data loss. Colleagues have also been upskilled to take health readings and equipping them with the necessary skills to use the system effectively.
Ewa continues: ‘Before remote monitoring, we had to phone up 111, wait for a while, then they might tell us to call back. Then we’d have to wait for a call back and a call from the GP. With Docobo we get a response within two hours! As we have times when people are very unwell, it’s really helpful to know what their health baselines are. So, when there is a problem, the GP can see their information – everything from temperature to blood pressure readings. There’s no paperwork getting lost anywhere. It’s really useful!’
‘When we started using remote monitoring, some of the team were confused and wondering why we were using this. But now everyone is on board! In fact, they feel upskilled – for example, we’ve had training on how to do breaths per minute from the nurses, which was really useful.’
One time, someone was unwell in the late afternoon, and there were no appointments with the GP available. So, we used Docobo instead – and we very quickly got a call back from the hub who booked us a GP call with another surgery. We were then able to talk through all the symptoms on the Docobo system. It’s great!
The implementation of remote monitoring at Edwina Place has transformed the way health and wellbeing are supported within the service. By embracing this technology, colleagues are empowered with real-time data and enhanced clinical support, enabling faster and more informed decision-making. The people we support benefit from quicker access to care, greater consistency in monitoring and a more proactive approach to managing their health.
