Wednesday 18th November 2009

Monitoring pods An innovative telehealth project to monitor patients with chronic lung conditions has secured NHS Highland, Argyll & Bute Council and Telehealth Solutions.

NHS Highland’s Project Manager Lynn Garrett and Telehealth Solutions’ Product Manager Charles Lowe collected the coveted Improvement and Innovation award from the Scottish Health Awards Back in January, telehealth technology moved to the Isle of Bute where COPD sufferers had 15 monitoring pods installed. The limited resources project has enjoyed phenomenal success since its inception where the benefits were immediately apparent when, just weeks after the project went live, and the first unplanned hospital admission was avoided.

Early evaluations would suggest that further admissions have been saved but a structured evaluation, carried out in partnership with the University of the Highlands and Islands, will shortly be conducted. Once the results are known the findings will be shared with other health authorities.

Read more about the telehealth project