As of this morning – Monday June 8 – the current recorded case count for COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the UK has hit 286,194 with 40,542 deaths.
NHS England has announced that thousands of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and others recovering from coronavirus are being given access to devices and apps to enable remote monitoring of their conditions.
People with CF are classed as being at extreme risk from the coronavirus. To enable this group of patients to shield at home as much as possible, patients aged six years and over are to be given a spirometer to measure their lung capacity, and an app that lets them share this information with their doctor.
NHS England says home-based spirometry has been hailed as ‘the most important intervention’ for cystic fibrosis patients by the CF National Network, and that its roll out has been accelerated to help patients stay safe at home during the pandemic, while also ensuring that those whose condition worsens get the right help fast.
“For patients and their families living with cystic fibrosis this is a landmark moment, offering people vital health help at home,” noted NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens.
“As the NHS in England moves from having responded successfully to the first wave of the virus, to helping people to recover and to restoring routine services, it is common sense, convenient and innovative forms of treatment like at-home lung checks that we are making increasingly available to people across the country.”
Dr Janet Allen, director of strategic innovation at the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, said: “The expansion of home spirometry by NHS England and NHS Improvement to 4,000 people with cystic fibrosis across England is great news.
“We’ve been working closely with NHS England and NHS Improvement to ensure more people with CF have this equipment at home during these difficult times, so that clinical teams can continue to make important decisions about their care. It also builds on research we’re running – a study called Project Breathe – to help us understand whether measuring things like lung function, oxygen levels, activity and weight at home can reduce the number of hospital appointments for people with CF.”
Oximetre trial
Separately, NHS England said it is trialling the use of oximetres, combined with app-based check-ins with clinicians, to help spot any dip in blood oxygen-levels in patients recovering from COVID-19 at home, to make it easier to determine whether they need re-admission to hospital.
The oximeter service is being tested with more than 150 patients in sites in Watford, Hertfordshire and north London, with the NHS’ digital transformation unit, NHSX, working with British digital health start-up, Huma.
The service has since been extended to additional sites in West London, with plans for further pilots in other areas of the country including higher-risk patients who have recently tested positive for COVID-19.
If the trials show the model to be safe and beneficial for patients, they could help to inform a national rollout ahead of the coming winter.
“This is a great example of how new technology is supporting healthcare professionals to provide the right care at the right time,” noted Tara Donnelly, chief digital officer, NHSX. “With COVID-19, it’s vital that we make use of digital tools that can help support patients who don’t need immediate hospital care and allow close monitoring of their condition.”