Health Call is delighted to announce that ‘Health Call Digital Care Home’ has been shortlisted for Best HealthTech Solution for Patient Safety at this year’s HSJ Patient Safety Awards, recognising their outstanding contribution to healthcare.
As well as reducing community nursing visits by almost a third and reduced hospital admissions by an average of two per home, per month; it’s easy to see why Health Call’s Digital Care Home solution is generating a lot of positive attention.
Digital Care Home was created by Health Call to bridge the gap between care home staff and clinical teams and improve the safety and care that is provided to care home residents. Designed in collaboration with County Durham & Darlington NHS FT and Durham Dales Health Federation, amongst others, gaining national recognition for the benefits of this digital service is a great achievement.
The Digital Care Home service has been shortlisted amongst tough competition from hundreds of applicants across the country. Selected based on their ambition, Health Call’s visionary spirit and the demonstrable positive impact that their project has had on patient and staff experiences within the health and social care sector, have played an integral part in its recognition.
The judging panel is made up of a diverse range of highly influential and respected figures within the healthcare community, including: Rachel Power (Chief Executive, The Patients Association), Jean Knight (Chief Operating Officer, Northamptonshire Healthcare FT) and Vincent Badu (Deputy Chief Executive, Kent & Medway Partnership Trust.
Ian Dove, director at Health Call, said: “We are thrilled that Health Call Digital Care Home has been shortlisted for Best HealthTech Solution for Patient Safety. This recognises the dedication from both our team and partners to improve the lives of care home staff, residents and clinical teams alike.”
This innovative service allows care home staff to refer patient details to clinical teams using a secure portal, such as a website or an app, providing observations such as blood pressure, oxygen saturation and temperature, whilst also providing any extra information on their concerns.
This then calculates the National Early Warning Score 2 (NEWS2) based on the information provided, allowing clinical staff to triage effectively. The information can be pulled through to the patient’s electronic record on widely used systems such as EMIS and SystmOne, making it securely available to all appropriate clinical staff.
Ian continued: “Since the introduction of Digital Care Home, users have benefited from a 30 per cent reduction in community nursing visits, reduced hospital admissions by an average of two per home, per month, as well as empowering care home staff and ensuring clinicians are better informed to improve caseload management.”
Digital Care Home was delivered across County Durham and Darlington 12 months earlier than originally planned, showcasing Health Call’s ability to develop their innovative products at scale and pace.
He added: “Due to the success of the project in County Durham and Darlington, Digital Care Home is live across all 113 care homes for older people in the area and implementation has also commenced across South Tyneside’s 24 care homes.
“We are extremely proud of this service and have already put plans in place to further enhance and develop this over the next year, as well as adapting the service for use in other settings such as extra care.”
The full list of nominees for the 2020 HSJ Patient Safety Awards can be found on https://awards.patientsafetycongress.co.uk/2020-shortlist.
Winners will be selected ahead of the ceremony, which will take place virtually as part of the Patient Safety Virtual Congress and Awards in November 2020.