Remote monitoring toolkit reassures care home staff, managers, residents, and their families

Claire Croucher runs two care homes for Precious Homes in Milton Keynes. Both sites care for adults with learning difficulties and autism, and have been using Whzan since 2021.

The Whzan Blue Box contains everything needed to enable staff to measure vital signs of their residents, including heart rate, blood oxygen levels, temperature and blood pressure. Being able to see early signs of changes means they can alert clinical colleagues before the person becomes so unwell they need hospital care.

“We already had a blood pressure machine and a pulsometer, but Whzan also knows what the correct reading for each resident is. My staff aren’t nurses, but they used to have to work this out themselves. It’s the closest thing to a medical professional without contacting NHS 111 or calling an ambulance.”

Claire recalled that the system was easy to set up and incorporate into the day-to-day running of the care homes.

“The project leader from BLMK came out to train the staff on how to use the equipment and the questionnaires. We set up a profile for each resident, and then we were ready to go. My staff are really confident in using the kit, and are happy to train new colleagues who join the team.”

Since being integrated into the care homes’ own care planning system, staff only need to input data once. Whzan also automatically prompts carers when another reading is due to be taken.

“As a manager, it makes my role easier,” said Claire. “I can run reports on the checks that have been completed, and I particularly like the timeline view of results, which is really easy to see.”

The BLMK Digitising Social Care team are currently piloting the integration between Whzan and SystmOne which will allow the transfer of Whzan data directly to the GP patient record in SystmOne.  In addition, there is an option for GPs to access an account to view any readings that Whzan has taken, which helps to speed up diagnosis and care.

Claire recalled: “When a resident is a bit under the weather, we automatically check their blood pressure, temperature and maybe do a couple of Whzan’s questionnaires – ‘Is my resident feeling unwell?’ is the most common one we use. If we then decide to call the GP, it makes our position stronger, because we can give them these readings.”

Claire explained how Whzan also supports handovers to the rapid response team, as it can calculate the National Early Warning Score (NEWS2). “They’re still going to take their own readings, but if you can give them the information before they’re needed for an emergency call out, they’re better prepared for when they arrive and it saves some time.”

It can be difficult for the care home staff to explain medical interventions to their residents and get their cooperation. Claire explained: “Some don’t really like any kind of medical intervention at all, but we were able to do an oral health assessment thanks to the Whzan questionnaires. It also helps that it’s the staff team doing the readings, rather than someone they don’t know.

“On the other extreme, some residents love to be involved with doctors or hospital treatment, and we need to help them to understand that they don’t need any medical intervention. Again, thanks to Whzan reading out the results, they are more accepting of the fact that they do not need to see a doctor. It also ensures they feel involved in their assessments and care plans.”

For any care homes who are thinking of getting Whzan, Claire has this message: “If you don’t have a registered nurse on site, you should definitely get Whzan. Because as good as your staff team are, they’re not trained medical professionals and it gives reassurance to yourself, your staff, families and the residents that you’re maintaining checks.

“It’s small and easy to store, easy to use, and has benefits for everybody. We’ve had ongoing support from BLMK – they’ve been brilliant.”

To find out more about Whzan, visit https://blmkhealthandcarepartnership.org/about/our-priorities/data-and-digital/digitising-social-care-disc-programme/remote-health-monitoring or email the Digitising Social Care team at blmkicb.digital.socialcare@nhs.net.