720474Development of prototype management system for COPD and DiabetesClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKThe ageing UK population is putting an enormous strain on the NHS. As the population grows older, the number of people living with a long-term condition (LTC) that affects their health increases steadily. The proportional costs to the NHS in treating these conditions is staggering: 70% of the entire NHS budget is spent managing the LTC’s of 30% of the population. Monetarily, this amount was calculated to be £77bn per year spent managing 15.4m patients. As 80% - 90% of all care for people with LTCs is undertaken by patients and their families, improvements in self-management methods will result in a reduced number of GP visits and admissions to hospital, and increased compliance with treatment regimens. This project will develop a prototype system to monitor biometric signs, such as blood pressure and oxygen saturation levels, and transmit the information back to the NHS, to aid management of longterm conditions (LTCs) and improve patient outcomes, whilst reducing costs of care. To achieve this, Spirit Healthcare (SH) will build upon a successful system, the ‘Clinitouch’, which they have already implemented in Leicester for the management of 50 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD). This trial proved that Clinitouch was able to reduce emergency hospital admissions by 65-95%, saving in excess of £353,000 in 26 weeks by averting 87 hospital admissions. It was so successful that SH have been commissioned to roll out the service to more patients across Leicester. SH will transform their Clinitouch patient interface platform from a bulky and cumbersome unit into an intuitive platform that will run on a tablet computer that interfaces (via Bluetooth) with various biometric-monitoring peripherals. For the purposes of this development of prototype project, SH will target patients with COPD or diabetes. If the 65% reduction in unplanned admissions was achievable on a national basis, the £407m bill for unplanned COPD admissions would reduce to £142m.