CARE provider Friends of the Elderly (FOTE) has been awarded an NHS Digital grant, worth more than £44,000, to assist in the roll out of leading-edge Digital Care Planning Technology and Acoustic Monitoring across its group of ten homes.
FOTE has teamed up with KareInn, a Digital Care Planning system provider and Ally Labs Software, who provide wireless Acoustic Monitoring system, and won a bid for a share of the Government’s £4.8 million, NHS Digital Pathways grant.
The grants are designed to help fund organisations that wish to provide and commission adult social care services and widen the scope of their local digital projects, working closely with the NHS.
FOTE will use the development funding to increase the use of the KareInn and Ally Labs systems at its three care homes at the Malvern care hub in Worcestershire.
The new funding will also enable the charity to link the Ally Labs and the KareInn systems together, to create an integrated digital care planning system.
The homes care for some of the most vulnerable and dependent service users requiring residential, nursing and dementia care in the Worcestershire area.
Richard Macintyre, Director of Quality and Innovation at Friends of the Elderly, was delighted the charity had been one of the few not-for-profit providers to be awarded the NHS Digital Pathfinders Grant.
He said: “We’ve already had great success using the KareInn and Ally Labs systems as small pilots and now this money will allow us to scale up and integrate real time monitoring into digital care records to really exploit both systems full potential.
“I firmly believe that AI and machine learning, has the potential power to transform the delivery of care for the sector. I am convinced Friends of the Elderly will be at the forefront of this revolution as the benefits for our service users are quite significant.”
Unlike traditional digital care planning systems, KareInn doesn’t simply collect data. At the moment, the team are working on building artificial intelligence (AI) into the system, making KareInn one of the first care platforms in the UK using AI to boost its service.
Rachelle Mills, CEO of KareInn, explained: “The new technology will look at individuals’ history and patterns uniquely, rather than looking at their medical statistics alone. It can predict whether something might be wrong and is able to spot anomalies in patterns of health.”
The tool could help staff by recommending a check, if it notices something worrying or unexpected.
This is a real advantage over the old paper driven system and gives families information much quicker when concerned about a loved one.
Having such a detailed dashboard of healthcare metrics means that care can be truly personalised for each service user through observations and trends using analytic patterns.
Rachelle added: “We were particularly excited to pool our expertise with Friends of the Elderly and Ally to help benefit the sector as a whole. I hope it’s just the start of what we are capable of achieving when we join forces together.”
The Ally Labs system uses highly sensitive acoustic listening devices to monitor and keep service users safe at night, ensures service users are not disturbed, when they are sound asleep thus allowing for a better next day.
The technology can even help with early detection of possible falls plus, chest and urine infections, all delivered using smart phone technology.
Thomas Tredinnick, CO-Founder and CEO of Ally Labs, said: “”Ally Labs is thrilled to be working with Friends of the Elderly to increase the use of our acoustic monitoring system across the Malvern Care Hub. Together we have provided their service users with safer care and a better night’s sleep. Additionally, the opportunity to integrate our software with KareInn will set new the communication standards between these types of technologies and improve the day to day lives of front-line staff.”
