Life saving scheme rolled out across the East Midlands allows patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. To monitor signs of deterioration from home.
With support from the Patient Safety Collaborative (which is hosted by EMAHSN), East Midlands patients at risk from COVID-19 accessed a national programme designed to provide an early warning system if their condition worsens.
During the pandemic, reduced oxygen saturation levels have been shown to be a key identifier of deterioration in patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19. This initiative - COVID Oximetry @home - uses pulse oximeters for patients to safely self-monitor their condition at home, providing an opportunity to detect a decline in their condition earlier that might require review and hospital admission.
The programme was managed by NHS England and NHS Improvement, and was spread across England by the AHSNs in partnership with NHSX and NHS Digital.
From a starting point of 20% of Clinical Commissioning Groups in November 2020, 100% of CCGs had established a fully operational COVID Oximetry @home pathway by early February.
In the East Midlands, our Patient Safety Collaboratives rapidly spread the programme by working closely with CCGs in their region to offer quality improvement expertise, access to training and resources, data collection and evaluation, and by facilitating a national learning network.
