13.12.13
Digital patient monitoring system launched in Oxford
A new patient monitoring system has been developed to record and evaluate patients’ vital signs and alert staff to deterioration more reliably.
Using funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and the Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards NHS Technology Fund, the system uses iPads and tablets to calculate and display an ‘early warning score’ to help decide whether medical intervention is needed.
The research was also supported by the UK Digital Economy Programme and the Oxford Biomedical Research Centre. The system was developed with the University of Oxford and Oxford University Hospitals (OUH) NHS Trust and is being rolled out across the trust. It measures six vital signs; heart rate, respiratory rate, blood pressure, arterial oxygen saturation, temperature and level of consciousness.
Professor Lionel Tarassenko, professor of electrical engineering, who leads the project, said: “The new system will help nurses, who work in busy, high-pressure environments, care for patients more efficiently and effectively.
“The traditional chart-based method of recording vital-sign data is susceptible to errors in both recording and analysis of vital signs. This has been shown in multiple studies, including one funded by the Oxford BRC. Furthermore it limits the availability of the data to the bedside, making its sharing across the hospital difficult.
“The new electronic system automatically calculates the hospital’s Early Warning Score, a scoring system which we have developed from extensive statistical studies of patient data. This highlights combinations of vital-sign readings which give cause for concern. The system also enables all vital-sign data and scores to be accessed instantly by all relevant healthcare staff, wherever in the hospital they may be.
“The system is currently being rolled out across three wards and then, with the help of the ‘Safer Hospitals, Safer Wards’ funding, across the whole of the Oxford University Hospitals Trust next year. We see the new system as a major step towards the ‘digital hospital’ in which all sources of patient information are interlinked and all healthcare staff are interconnected. This can only have a positive impact on patient safety.”
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