More than 130 care homes in Greater Manchester are using an app to allow the NHS to monitor Covid-19 symptoms and support over 4,000 residents.
The tracker app allows care home staff to input information about a resident’s related symptoms into a tracker, which can be shared directly with the resident’s GP and NHS community response team to ensure that a swift assessment and response can be put in place.
The app also means the NHS can closely monitor the situation in care homes across the locality more easily thanks to a visual dashboard that displays the information at an aggregate level.
Following a successful rollout in Tameside and Glossop last April, the tracker app is now in use in 138 care homes across eight localities in Greater Manchester.
In total it means more than 4,000 residents are being supported through the tracker, with more than 300,000 assessments taking place since the initial rollout.
The digital tracker has now also been adapted to record Covid vaccination consent and when a vaccine is given to care home residents.
In addition, it allows a real-time dashboard view of each care home and their vaccination status, contributing to national efforts to vaccinate the most vulnerable and care home residents.
The solution was developed as part of a partnership formed by Health Innovation Manchester (HInM), including the Greater Manchester Health and Social Care Partnership, Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, Tameside Council, local GPs and tech company Safe Steps.
“By empowering carers, who know their residents best and can spot symptoms or signs of deterioration, to use the tracker we can easily identify those patients who need advanced care planning by picking up signs of deterioration as soon as they start to happen,” said Dr. Saif Ahmed, GP and clinical lead for the project.
“Adding in the ability to record Covid-19 vaccination meant we can monitor care home residents who have consented and received the vaccine,” he added.
For more information visit: www.healthinnovationmanchester.com/our-work/covid-19-digital-care-homes.
