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Wireless tech cannot substitute nurses

pharmafile | July 23, 2014 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development, Sales and Marketing Brighton, NHS, RCN, hospital, nursing, wireless tech 

The Royal College of Nursing says that whilst a new wireless diagnostic patch is certainly innovative, they are concerned that it is being used to replace NHS staff.

The warning comes as a new sticking plaster-sized patient monitoring patch, developed by the Oxford-based firm Sensium Healthcare, has just undergone testing in a south coast hospital.

Placed on the chest, it wirelessly transmits data on heart rate, breathing and body-temperature while the patient is free to move around.

Healthcare analysts say the system could ease pressure on hospital wards and has the potential to monitor patients in their home.

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Victoria Howard, a staff nurse at the Brighton hospital where the patch is being tested, says the system is working well. “It gives us a bit more time with some patients when we know some patients do need that bit more time,” she explains.

“Without this monitor, you’re constantly thinking what’s happening in the next room, and I should go in there and check them. Knowing this is on and it works well, we’re able to spend that bit more time.”

But the RCN says there is no substitute for having enough staff. The College’s chief executive, Dr Peter Carter, says new technology could be very helpful in alerting nurses and doctors to a patient who was starting to deteriorate – but he also expressed a note of caution.

“Anything which helps that process has to be a good thing,” he says. “However, we also know that there is no substitute for having enough staff with the right level of skill on every ward, able to give each and every patient the care and attention that critically ill people need.”

Quicker checks

Most of the patients at the Brighton hospital are in for routine surgery with some also being treated for cancer. These patients are typically having their vital signs checked every four hours, depending on their condition, with staff assessing a patient’s temperature, blood pressure and heart rate.

But patients can deteriorate between checks and the new patch is designed to update information on some of the vital signs every few minutes. The wireless device then issues an alert if the readings fall outside pre-set levels, indicating a potential problem.

The patch is placed on the chest just above the heart when the patient is admitted. There are no cables to any monitors. Instead, readings are recorded and transmitted to a box in each room that works like a Wi-Fi router, passing on data to the hospital IT system.

The company says the patch is about to be tested at one NHS trust and 20 more are in talks.

Ben Adams 

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