I'VE GOT MY LIFE BACK by Jackie Rankin

Colette Melia is excited about the model village her husband John is building in their back garden. It’s a work in progress – he’s dug out the railway line that will run through the village and she’s spent the summer watching it spring into life.

Colette and husband John

This time last year the 66 year old was making regular trips to hospital. A former university law lecturer, she had already been forced into early retirement by Crohn’s Disease, a condition which affects the digestive system.

Last January, after nine years of unexplained breathlessness, she was diagnosed with heart failure. Although she was relieved to have a diagnosis, constant hospital visits and admissions left Colette despondent.

“I had great treatment from the cardiac team, including heart failure nurses and cardiologists and community nurses, but never knowing if I’d need to go to hospital was a strain for me. Because of the Crohn’s disease I need to be close to a loo so I was always anxious.”

When she was invited to join the Virtual Ward programme in March, Colette didn’t hesitate. A technician delivered the equipment to her home, including a smart device, blood pressure monitor, an oximeter (for measuring oxygen in the blood), scales, a thermometer and a pedometer.

Colette was given training so she can now record vital signs and symptoms daily and enter them into a device, which then sends them to the Telehealth Clinical Hub. The Docobo system displays the observations on screen at the hub and alerts the attention of the nursing team if any reading or symptom is abnormal.

“I was apprehensive about using the equipment”, says Colette, “but it’s simple. It’s just like being on a ward, you’ll get an immediate response which is very reassuring. They have a virtual ward round just like in hospital, so I know my readings can be reviewed by a cardiologist as if I was on an actual ward.”

Colette enjoys a good relationship with the team.

“It’s perfect. You know they’re there, watching your readings, which gives you the confidence to get on with your life. I was so worried before, I couldn’t concentrate on anything. I feel like I’ve got my life back.”