Patient Journey — Doccla

Furthermore, as an accredited healthcare operator, Doccla provides additional clinical capacity on top of technology to reduce hospital workload, alleviating pressures on frustrated and overworked NHS staff.

“Doccla has its own full clinical team of specialists who support the NHS with the clinical monitoring,” explains Ratz. “We also offer tech support for any patients unfamiliar with digital tech and how to use it. This further helps to ease the pressure on the trust’s staff.”

Virtual ward technology

Virtual wards were initially set up to treat COVID-19 patients as a coping tool for the many overwhelmed hospitals that had run out of beds.

“Pushed to its limits by the pandemic, the NHS has struggled to recover and is constantly stretched. There is simply not enough bed capacity in the hospitals or enough staff to cope with the numbers of patients,” said Ratz. “Delayed discharges are a major cause of the immense pressure the NHS is facing. Patients who are medically fit enough to be discharged can’t be because there are no after-care packages or care home beds available for them.”

“That clinical hub can also send medical staff out to people’s homes to check up on them,” explains Edwards. “Several integrated care systems are launching virtual wards in partnership with Doccla. Patients are provided with a tailormade box of equipment, including smartphones with a large font that is easier to read for those with poor vision.

“Virtual ward monitoring works in a similar way to traditional ward rounds in a hospital, with patients submitting data once or twice a day, which is then reviewed by a clinician. Others who need more acute care can stick a patch on their chest that syncs with the app so their heart rate is constantly monitored. If it goes above or below a certain threshold, the clinician will be alerted.”

Doccla enables patients to recover at home as soon as possible after a hospital stay, ensuring a far better overall experience than lying in a ward surrounded by strangers for days on end. People want to spend as little time in hospital as possible and to avoid hospital visits where they can, particularly as frequent visits and long periods of time spent in hospital can be damaging to the mental and physical health of older patients.

“I believe that virtual wards will become a standard mode of care for the next generation. We are very much driven to make the NHS work better for all involved and keep patients out of hospital,” said Ratz.