Living independently on a property near Dubbo, Kaye Primmer felt better knowing the “girls are there to keep an eye on things”.
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The “girls” are Dubbo Hospital’s community-based nurses who have been remotely monitoring her vital signs at least once a day.
Ms Primmer is the first Dubbo patient to complete a trial of a new in-home telemonitoring service, part of the Western NSW Integrated Care Strategy.
She was pleased to take part in the trial that helped manage complications resulting from bronchiectasis.
The Ministry of Health’s Rural eHealth Program has provided funding to the Western NSW Local Health District to complete a 12- month trial of in-home monitoring devices with suitable patients.
Participation in the trial is free and patients are supplied with a monitoring device able to measure “blood pressure, temperature, blood oxygen saturation, blood glucose, weight and ECG”.
Significant changes to readings leads to a visit by a nurse or doctor, or admission to hospital,.
Ms Primmer’s data was wirelessly transmitted from her home back to the hospital.
“It means that I don’t have to lift the wheelie walker in and out of the car to go in (to Dubbo) and visit the doctor, and it’s good just knowing that the girls are there to keep an eye on things,” she said.
“I think that it is an absolutely wonderful system and I’m just in awe of it actually.”
The health district’s cardiopulmonary rehabilitation co-ordinator clinical nurse consultant Maria Davies said in-home monitoring had benefited Ms Primmer and health staff.
“I’ve found it’s been really good because we’ve had contact with Kaye every day and if there’s been any problems we can talk to her on the phone,” she said,
“If the community-based nurses are able to do the in-home telemonitoring observations, it also frees up time for other nurses to treat patients in hospital.”
The Western NSW Integrated Care Strategy aims to transform the delivery of patient care to improve health outcomes for residents of rural and remote communities and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.