Millions to be handed health-monitoring smartwatches by NHS

Smartwatches and wearable tech will be handed to millions of people under a 10-year plan to save the NHS.

Devices to track blood pressure, glucose spikes and even monitor how cancer patients are responding to treatment will be given out to prevent ill-health and treat more patients at home.

Wes Streeting, the Health Secretary, will announce a “national conversation” on the future of the NHS on Monday, asking patients and staff across the country to shape major reforms.

On Saturday, he said: “If we want to save the things we love about the NHS, then we have to change it.

“Our 10-year health plan will turn the NHS on its head – transforming it into a Neighbourhood Health Service powered by cutting-edge technology that helps us stay healthy and out of hospital. We will rebuild the health service around what patients tell us they need.”

Mr Streeting will set out three major shifts that he says are necessary to make the service fit for the future.

He will add that this means moving more care from hospitals to the community, a shift from treatment to prevention and switching from analogue to digital services.

Technology will be key to this, the Government will say, with gadgets handed out so that people can track their own health.

This includes smartwatches to allow patients with high blood pressure to monitor their levels and those with Type 2 diabetes to manage blood sugar spikes by receiving alerts on their phones.

Smart rings permitting cancer patients to track vital signs may also be rolled out more widely.

Trials on patients with lung, bowel and blood cancer in Greater Manchester have used the rings to check on heart rate, temperature, physical activity levels and sleep as patients undergo treatment.

Fitbit-style devices and other types of activity monitors will be offered to patients recovering from strokes to assess their gait and mobility, with smartwatches to monitor tremors in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

The shift to home monitoring could mean far less reliance on hospitals and GP visits.

Type 2 diabetes patients are currently required to go to hospital or the GP once a month on average.

‘Technology will transform patient care’

The Government will also detail plans for a network of neighbourhood health centres, placing GPs, nurses, physiotherapists and health visitors all under one roof to stop people being passed “from pillar to post”.

The changes will also see a single patient record with all information on the NHS App.

Mr Sreeting said: “The challenges for the NHS are stark, but the opportunities are huge. Modern technology will transform how patients are cared for, making their lives infinitely easier and the NHS fit for the future.

“At the same time, we will protect what patients want from the NHS – the family doctor relationship, free healthcare at the point of need, and shorter waits for appointments. Our 10-year health plan will preserve the NHS’s traditional values in a modern setting.

“It’s going to take time, but it is our mission to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, get it back on its feet and make it fit for the future.”

Streeting: NHS is broken

Just an hour after being appointed after Labour’s election victory, Mr Streeting described the NHS as “broken”.

Since then, he has commissioned an independent investigation by Lord Darzi, the former health minister, which warned that the health service was in a “critical condition” in September.

Last week, Mr Streeting said the unemployed could be given weight loss jabs to help them get back to work, describing the new class of medication as potentially having a “monumental” impact on obesity and the economy.

The plan he will announce on Monday is part of the Government’s Health Mission to build an NHS fit for the future and shorten the amount of time people spend in-ill health through “national conversation”.

Mr Streeting already announced pilot schemes for Neighbourhood Health Centres after being inspired by a similar system in Australia.

The centres mean that patients with multiple conditions can be treated in one place – with access to scans and treatment for minor injuries such as cuts and sprains – without having to spend hours in overstretched hospitals.

Source: Laura Donnelly, Yahoo Health UK