Nurses at Ealing Hospital have been shortlisted for a prestigious, national award after pioneering the use of an app allowing heart failure patients to self-monitor their condition at home.
Ealing Hospital, which looks after one of the highest concentrations of heart failure patients in the UK, says remote monitoring platform LUSCII is a “game changer welcomed by patients and hard-pressed clinical staff.”
The app allows patients to monitor their blood pressure, heart rate and weight and send them to cardiac nurses who can provide advice and support, such as upping their medication.
To date, 120 patients have passed through the programme at Ealing Hospital with 30 currently on the heart failure team’s books. Benefits of this include reducing unnecessary hospital visits and admissions, minimising any potential complications and better management of medications.
Emil Elias, Advanced Nurse Practitioner in Cardiology, said: “Data has shown a significant reduction in the 30-day readmission rate and outpatient attendances for our heart failure virtual ward patients.
“The optimisation of heart failure therapy has also been more effective and higher than the national average resulting in improved patient and staff satisfaction with improvement in clinical outcomes and better service delivery.”
The winner of the prestigious Luscinia Award will be announced in October.
